


A Tale As Old As Time

by xSophie2x



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 2017 version, Beauty and the Beast, Breaking the Spell, Enemies to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Thiam Disney Movie Fest, transformations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-05-13 13:24:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19252093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSophie2x/pseuds/xSophie2x
Summary: Beauty and the Beast with Thiam. Theo goes out looking for Tara when she doesn't come back home, and finds a castle with someone who needs his help too.





	1. The Beginning Of It

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy! :)

_# Somewhere far away, in a castle hidden away between the trees a little away and out of sight from a small village, there lived a young prince, who had everything his heart desired. He did his best to fill his castle with the most beautiful and expensive objects, his spacious rooms with the most luxurious decorations. In those rooms, he held the biggest parties with beautiful people dressed in the most expensive clothes, but despite that, the man wasn’t satisfied. He was selfish and unkind, and wanted more. He didn’t care for anything other than the superficial objects that could only bring him temporary happiness, and let other people know about his wealth._

_One day though, at one his parties, that was all about to come to an end. It was in the middle of a dance when a knock on the door startled him, and all the guests, and the young prince turned around. Opening the door, it revealed an old lady waiting outside, seeking shelter from the bitter storm. In exchange for staying the night, she offered the young prince a single rose. The young prince, however, wasn’t impressed with her disheveled appearance, and turned the woman away. But she warned him, that he shouldn’t be deceived by appearances. Because real beauty, came from inside._

_The young prince, however, wouldn’t listen to her, but when he turned away again, the old lady’s appearance vanished to reveal a beautiful enchantress underneath. The young man tried to apologize, but it wouldn’t help. The enchantress had seen that for him, love didn’t exist. As punishment, she turned the young prince into an ugly beast, and put a spell on the castle and everyone who lived there. She offered the prince her rose, which was truly an enchanted rose. If he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return, by the time the last rose petal fell, the spell would be broken. If he failed, the spell would last, and the young prince would remain a beast for all time. Over the years, the young man became desperate, and lost all hope of ever having his spell broken. No one came by who could have it broken, and to be honest, who could? Who could want him like this, love him like this? That thought haunted the young man wherever he went, because who could ever learn, to love a beast?_

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Theo had always thought of himself as a small town boy. The village that he lived in since he was born was relatively small, a village where everybody knew everybody and anything that was different or unfamiliar was frowned upon.

Sometimes Theo couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable at that, a little trapped, like he didn’t really belong. He sometimes wondered if there wasn’t anything else out there, something more to do.

The mornings in the village were all the same, every day, and when Theo opened the door of the little cottage where he lived with his mother and sister, who weren’t awake yet, he could tell that today was gonna be no different.

Outside, the place was already buzzing with a fair amount of people, and Theo opened the little fence around his backyard to make his usual morning round around town and get some groceries. After stopping by the bakery like he always did, he walked over to the local grocer, where besides the necessary stuff, he could always get more sketchbooks and pencils as well.

After paying, he ignored the strange look from the shopkeeper that he got, and walked out of the shop. It had gotten a little more crowded, and Theo was glad that he done everything already. The sun was out, making Theo think that it could be a nice day, and with a relaxed feeling and the new sketchbook under his arm, he started back towards his cottage.

He couldn’t have predicted though, the way that his morning that had started so nicely, would be interrupted so unpleasantly.

‘Theo! Wait a moment for me!’ the familiar voice sounded from behind him, just as he had reached the fence by his garden again.

Theo groaned softly, making sure that no one had heard it before forcing a smile and turning around to the tall, blonde man that was loved by basically everyone in town. ‘Brett,’ he managed to say, in the most friendly voice that he could.

Brett grinned, a smile that seemed horribly cocky and overconfident to Theo. He frowned, wondering with dread what it was that he wanted.

‘Beautiful morning, isn’t it?’ Brett asked to start conversation, glancing towards the sketchbook in Theo’s hands. ‘What have you got there?’

‘Oh, eh…’ Theo started, doubting if Brett would really be interested in his art. No one in town ever was. They all thought it was rather strange that he and his family were so interested in everything to do with art. ‘It’s nothing,’ he said then, hiding the book from Brett’s view. ‘Listen, Brett, I actually have to…’ Go back inside, he wanted to say, but Brett interrupted him before he even had a chance to finish.

‘You’re not busy tonight, are you?’ he said. ‘Because otherwise I thought you might like to do something with me.’

The confidence that the words were spoken with, as if Brett expected Theo to cancel his other plans just to make all of his time free for him, was enough for Theo to feel his annoyance at that flaring up in his stomach.

‘No,’ he said, holding onto the friendly tone as best as he could. ‘I am busy tonight, actually.’

‘Oh,’ Brett responded with raised eyebrows, seemingly unphased as if the possibility of rejection never even crossed his mind. ‘What about tomorrow then? We could… get to know each other better then. Because there is actually something I want to ask you.’

Theo’s eyes widened and he frowned, as he suddenly understood Brett’s full intentions from the way he worded his question, and that he wanted more than what Theo had thought at first.

Quickly, he opened the fence, stepping into the garden. ‘Sorry, no,’ he replied. ‘Plans, you know?’

Brett raised his eyebrows, but a big smile formed on his face and he nodded. ‘Of course. But I’ll see if I can give you some help tomorrow!’

Theo groaned internally, as that was not what he meant, and opened his mouth to say as much, before he thought better of it. He could deal with Brett more later.

‘I’ll think about it,’ he said quickly then, turning around to go back inside his cottage. Brett nodded, fully counting on the fact that he would see Theo again later, and as he stood on the small wooden steps that lead to the front door, Theo turned around once more to see Brett walking back to his less eye-catching and popular, but nonetheless loyal friend Nolan.

The full implications of their conversation really hit Theo then, dread filling his stomach, and he couldn’t help but feel annoyed. It wasn’t really that hard to figure out what Brett had meant, with the comment that he wanted to ask him something later, and the thought of it made Theo want to laugh.

Getting married? Them?

Just the thought of it alone made Theo want to get out of this little town even more than he already did.

He knew that he and Brett would never make a good match, even if he was ready to get married already, he could never picture himself with someone so arrogant, and selfish, someone who considered themselves to be so much better than anybody else and had little empathy for others. No, Theo would never be happy with someone like that. He wasn’t even sure if he could really marry someone that kept him tied to this town so much, because he knew that he’d never really fit in here with the others, that he was a little different than most people here, and he knew that they talked about him in that way behind his back as well. There wasn’t really anyone in town he could get along with better than anybody else. He’d met everyone in town already after all.

No, if he got married, Theo just wanted someone who would understand what it was like to be an outcast a little, someone who understood him and he could be happy with. Something simple. Even if he wasn’t gonna find it in this town.

With a sigh, he pushed the door to the cottage open, letting out a relieved sigh when he saw his mom and Tara sitting at the table already, and smiled at them. ‘Morning.’

‘Morning,’ they greeted him, before Tara looked up and raised her eyebrows. ‘You look irritated.’

‘Ah,’ Theo breathed out as he took place at the table. ‘It’s complicated,’ he sighed. ‘Tara, can we go horse riding after breakfast?’ he asked, as it was something they always did when they needed to let go of their thoughts a little bit.

She chuckled, sitting down across from him. ‘Sure. It’s Brett again, isn’t it?’ she asked, making the right guess right away.

‘No matter what I do, he just keeps pushing,’ Theo mumbled tiredly, rubbing his hand over his face. At times, he forgot how well Tara knew him.

‘Well, he’s not here now,’ Tara said with a smile. ‘So let’s just enjoy breakfast, okay? That always helps.’

Theo nodded, giving her a smile back. It was at times like this, that he was the happiest that she was his sister.

*****

‘So, what happened exactly?’ Tara asked, as they were riding on their horses over the green grass hilltop outside of the village.

Theo let out a soft sigh, looking over at her with a small smile on his face, before he told her the story again. He watched as the expression on Tara’s face changed with what he said, a curious, kind of sarcastic smile as he started his story being replaced with a look of distaste when he told her what had happened with Brett, and finally an understanding look when he explained his reluctance about getting married with someone in town to her.

Tara nodded, looking at him as she said: ‘It sounds to me like you know what you want pretty well. I think that’s good,’ before she looked around and noticed how far they’d gone already.

Theo followed her gaze, seeing how far the village lay behind them already as well. ‘Do you want to go back?’

Tara hesitated for a moment, but then she shook her head. ‘No, it’s nice horse riding here, isn’t it?’ she said, nodding at the bright sunlit hill before them with a smile. ‘I think I’m still going a little further.’

‘Okay…’ Theo said slowly, unsure about the decision he’d made for a moment, not knowing if it would be a good idea to leave her on her own. ‘Do you mind if I’m gonna go back?’

Tara shook her head, letting out a soft sigh with a small smile on her face. ‘No! I’ll be fine, honestly, you can go back whenever you want.’

Theo grinned, making a move to turn his horse around. He wasn’t surprised, his sister could take care of herself pretty well.

‘I’ll see you later then,’ he said with a smile, ‘Have fun,’ and she nodded, steering her horse onto the hill. ‘Thanks. I think I should be back before lunch.’

Theo nodded, saying goodbye to her, and steering his horse back onto the path that lead back home. It wouldn’t take too long, maybe a little more than half an hour, and when he encouraged his horse to go faster, it would be even shorter. The sun was high up in the sky when he arrived back home, bright and warm, and after he had taken care of his horse, he went back inside the cottage to make him and his mother some tea.

The next two hours went by pretty quickly, Theo spent most of it outside working in his garden, but as it got later and later, he started wondering why Tara wasn’t back yet, and his worry for her grew. Shouldn’t she have been back by now? Lunch had passed already. What if something had happened?

Just as he thought that, the loud noise of a horse running towards them quickly, into the village, startled Theo, and he looked up in shock, standing up quickly as he saw which one it was. ‘Philippe!’

Upon hearing his name, the horse ran straight towards Theo, coming to a stop before him and allowing himself to be calmed by Theo’s hands brushing through his manes.

‘Philippe, what’s wrong?’ he asked quietly, softly stroking the horse’s nose, though he couldn’t deny the panicked feeling that he felt coursing through him. ‘Where’s Tara?’

‘Theo?’ he heard his mother asking from behind him then. ‘What’s going on?’

Theo turned around a little panicked, not letting go of Philippe. ‘I… I don’t know,’ he started. ‘Tara and I went horse riding, but she went a little further when I was already going back, and now she’s not here.’

Quickly, he made move to climb on top of Philippe. ‘I should be going to find her.’

He started to steer the horse away already, onto the path, when his mother grabbed the rein. ‘Absolutely not,’ she started. ‘What if it’s dangerous? You could get into trouble. We could ask for help from the people here.’

Theo swallowed, looking around. He didn’t know how eager they would be to help them, especially if they started to ask the same questions that his mom just had. ‘Mom, please,’ he pleaded. ‘If something bad happened to her, I want to know.’

His mom bit her lip, thinking for a moment before she nodded and took a step back. ‘Okay. But at least let someone go with you, so I know you’ll be safe.’

She had only turned around half when Theo steered Philippe past her, not hearing the last part of her sentence anymore as he let the horse run out of the village to lead him to Tara.

‘Theo!’ he heard her scream after him, and the regret of leaving her fully hit him then. He knew he had to though, to find Tara, and once he had he would apologize. He’d be fine, he knew, and he’d be back in the village soon enough.

Those were the only thoughts still left in his head as he left the village, and the sound of Philippe’s hooves stomping on the ground was the only thing he still heard in the otherwise silent hills.


	2. A Hidden Castle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! :)

# Out of all the things that Theo expected to find, a castle wasn’t one of them.

Still, before him stood a large, gray, sky high castle with towers on every rooftop, and big cement steps at the front that lead to double front doors. Big, uninviting-looking statues stood at the front as decoration, and Theo shivered at the unwelcoming sight of it. 

Could Tara really be here? But why? 

Slowly, Theo got down from Philippe’s back, his mouth still open at the sight of the castle he never knew even existed, and stared up at it in confusion. If Tara was really here, how could that be? Still, this was where Philippe had taken him, and Theo wondered what on earth had happened this morning and how his sister had ended up here. 

Slowly, Theo made his way up the steps, wondering why this castle looked so dark and abandoned, uninviting. Would it be the same on the inside? 

With much more ease than he expected, given how big and heavy the doors looked, he pushed them open and stepped inside a large hallway, where everything was as dark as on the outside, and looked around. Across from the doors, there was a big staircase that split up into two halfway through, both stairs leading into a different direction. It was expensively decorated, no doubt done by someone who had a lot of money, but everything had just a thin layer of dust on top and for a moment, Theo wondered if anyone actually lived here. 

‘Look,’ he could’ve sworn he heard a voice whisper then. ‘There’s someone else.’ 

Theo jumped, looking around, but he saw no one. ‘Hello!?’ he called anyway. ‘Is someone there?’ 

It remained silent, and Theo shook his head. He probably just imagined it. 

A cough sounded then, coming from upstairs, and Theo’s head shot up. After knowing Tara his whole life, he definitely recognized that as hers, which meant without a doubt that she was here. 

Hurriedly, he grabbed the golden candlestick that was standing on the table in the hallway and ran up the stairs, following the noise and going up with a very high, narrow staircase that lead him up one of the towers until finally, he’d found her. 

‘Tara!’ 

Much to his shock, he found his sister locked behind a heavy door in the tower, the thought about who on earth could’ve done this to her already crossing his mind as he fell to his knees outside of the door. 

‘Theo!’ she exclaimed. ‘No, no, no, what are you doing here?’ she hissed, making it sound like a whisper and a yell at the same time. ‘How did you get here?’ 

‘I… Philippe,’ he breathed out, already looking for a way to open the door. ‘He came running home without you. I was so worried! What happened?’ 

Tara crawled closer to the door, looking at him through the bars. ‘It’s this castle,’ she whispered. ‘And… Who lives here.’ 

Theo frowned at that, giving his sister a strange look, but he stayed silent and gave her the opportunity to explain the situation they found themselves in. ‘I came by this castle this morning, and wanted to get a closer look. I never even knew this existed and it was all so interesting. But when I saw the roses in the garden, they were all so beautiful I wanted to take one home for mom, and then… He showed up.’ 

‘What? Who?’ Theo insisted, the weird feeling that something was really wrong creeping up on him, almost making him shiver. He’d never really seen Tara like this, so… So panicked, it wasn’t like her. 

He didn’t wait for an answer then, as he hurriedly stood up to figure it out for himself and looked around the tower, searching for another person that could be here. ‘Who’s there!?’ 

At first he didn’t see anyone, but then, as if it was supposed to be an answer, the sound of loud footsteps echoed through the tower, along with something that almost sounded like a growl. 

Theo jumped at the sound, taking a step back and feeling his fear and shock coursing through him as he saw someone very big and tall coming down the stairs, more so than he’d remember ever seeing anybody. Despite that, he couldn’t stop the angry feeling he had for seeing his sister locked up, from burning in his stomach. ‘Who are you!?’ 

‘Who are you!?’ the question came back to Theo in a deep, low voice, that sounded more like a growl to him than anything else, and made him take a step back as the sudden wave of fear washed over him, his breath caught in his throat. 

The more that the other man came down the stairs, closer to him, the more Theo thought that he didn’t even really look like a real person anymore, and his low, growl-like voice surely matched that. 

‘I came for my sister!’ he called loudly, sounding more bravely than he felt. 'To take her home!' 

‘Your sister stole from me,’ was the only answer he got, with that same low growl that he’d only heard so far. Theo’s breath hitched and he shivered at the sound, at the bitter tone in the person’s voice, and couldn’t help but wonder how it could possibly even sound like that. 

When the other person wouldn’t come any closer than the doorway, hidden away in the dark and showing nothing more than his silhouette, Theo grew impatient when he wouldn’t show him his face. Resolutely, with a sigh, he grabbed the candlestick he’d brought with him from downstairs and stepped forward determinedly, to shine some light on the person’s face. 

When he did though, he couldn’t help but take a step back again immediately, unable to stop a gasp from spilling past his lips when he saw who, or rather what, it was. 

Because there, right in front of him and staring back at him, was not a person, but rather a large beast standing before him, staring down at him with an unimpressed, cold look on his hairy face, his whole body completely covered in fur, that to Theo, looked the most like some kind of bear-like or wolf-like creature, if he had to compare it to any animal. 

Theo stared up at him with his mouth half open, his shock and fear clear on his face and his heart hammering against his chest in fear, as he couldn’t look away from the beast’s fangs that were shown as he growled at him again, and the horns on top of the beast’s head. 

Theo had never seen anything quite like that, because who in their life would ever even think of seeing something like that? 

‘I… The rose was for our mother,’ Theo started terrified, as it was the only thing he could think of to say in that moment. ‘Please, just… Let my sister go,’ he pleaded desperately. ‘You can punish me instead!’ 

He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to say that, though he knew that as long as it meant that his sister was safe, he would do and say anything. But Tara interrupted him then, her hands wrapped around the bars so tight that her knuckles turned white, and her face close by the door. ‘No, Theo! He means forever! Apparently that’s what happens around here, even if it’s only just a flower!’ she said through gritted teeth, turning towards the monster with disdainful look on her face and her eyes burning with an anger that Theo knew he was lucky that he hadn’t seen on her very often in his life. 

In shock, he turned towards the beast. ‘A life sentence!?’ he exclaimed, unable to process and hide how ridiculous that sounded to him, his anger and shock sounding through his voice. ‘For a rose!?’ 

Theo didn’t know how the beast could ever think that that was a reasonable punishment. Theo had flowers in his garden too, that he liked, but if someone took them without his permission, he thought that asking them to stop, would be a much better solution than whatever was going on here. 

The monster before him didn’t seem affected by it, instead he did nothing but show them the same sneer that Tara had given him. ‘I got sentenced for life myself too,’ he growled then, and Theo took a deep breath at that, unable to understand what exactly the beast meant by that. 

‘Theo,’ Tara started softly from beside him then, catching his attention before she reached for his hands through the bars. ‘Theo, you should go. Please, go home. Mom still needs you, you live your life, and… I’ll be fine.’ 

Theo could feel the tears starting to gather in his eyes at the thought of leaving her behind here with this… Monster, making them sting, as he turned towards her. ‘Will you?’ he asked quietly, even though he had no intention of letting this go. He knew he wasn’t just gonna leave her here. 

Tara nodded, squeezing his hand. ‘Yeah. Yeah, you should go home to mom,’ she said, but the shaky tone in her voice revealed how she really felt. 

Theo took in a deep breath at that, turning towards the beast once more. ‘Okay. At least… At least let me say goodbye to her.’ 

The beast scoffed at that, turning around slowly, but Theo could feel his anger building in his stomach again at the response, making it hard for him to keep his control. ‘You’re really that cold that you won’t even let me say goodbye to my sister?’ he said loudly, with his jaw clenched in anger. ‘To my family?’ 

The beast paused at that, turning back to him slowly, and for a moment Theo felt like he had forgotten how to breath, taking a step back in fear. He thought the monster was going to attack him. But the beast only glared at him, not taking his eyes off of him once as he reached for the lock on the door, and opened it. 

A wave of immediate relief washed over Theo, and he let out the breath that he’d been holding. He was in the cell before he knew it, throwing his arms around Tara. ‘Thank God.’ 

‘Theo,’ she mumbled, slowly taking a step back. ‘Theo, you have to go.’ 

‘I know,’ he replied, glancing at the door quickly, and he knew that if he didn’t take this chance now, there would never be another. ‘It’s fine, I’ll find my way out of it.’ 

Tara frowned in confusion at that, clearly not liking what she heard, but before she could ask what he meant, Theo had already pushed her out of the door and locked it behind her. 

Two pairs of eyes stared at him, wide and in shock, and Theo could feel the tears sting in his eyes as he was sure that he would never forget the way Tara looked at him in that moment. Her eyes were wet and full of tears, and she was quick to jump up and run back to the door. 

‘Theo, no,’ she whimpered softly, sniffling and looking in Theo’s eyes to search for some kind of answer there, as she only let him take her hand to comfort her. ‘Why would you do that, you idiot!?’ 

‘You took her place,’ the beast stated with his low, rough voice, staring directly into Theo’s eyes. It made Theo unable to look away, and with his jaw clenched, hopefully looking more confident than he felt, he stared back. ‘She’s my family,’ he said in a low voice, which he heard sounded threatening and dangerous enough for him. ‘There isn’t much that I wouldn’t do for my family, and the people I care about.' 

The beast remained silent, only scoffing a little softer than he had before, before he roughly grabbed Tara by her wrist and dragged her further down the stairs with him. 

‘Don’t hurt her!’ Theo yelled after them, his anger rising again as he heard Tara letting out a soft, painful whine. Hurriedly, he made his way to the other side of the cell, where he could only see how far beneath him the ground was, and he watched how the beast dragged his sister out of the tower. She kicked and pushed around her wildly like she was so good at, trying to escape, and for a moment Theo felt unbelievably proud of her, but then they disappeared out of sight, and the feeling vanished with them. He sighed, a deep breath escaping his lips, as he looked around the tower. 

There wasn’t much to do here, that much was clear, Theo thought as he slowly sat down on the cold stone ground of the tower, and the deeply hopeless feeling settled in his stomach. With a sigh, he pulled up his legs against his chest, wrapping his arms around them, and he shivered. 

And that was when the whirlwind of emotions finally crashed around him in full force, all the questions he had about this situation and this place spinning around in his head and the panic that came with them hitting him hard. What was this place? How did no one ever even know it was here? And who was that… That beast!? The most important question, though, was the loudest in his mind: how on earth would he ever get out of here again, back to his family!? 

A sigh escaped Theo’s lips at that thought, and as he pulled up his legs a little more, wrapping his arms around them as he sat in the cold, dark, lonely tower, he had to admit to himself that he had no idea. And he had never felt so undeniably cold, alone and hopeless in his whole life.


	3. Animal Attack

# Theo thought it was safe to say, that he was in for one of the longest nights of his life. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed since he’d last seen Tara here, and he sat up in the dark tower with his back pressed against the cold stone wall for what felt like hours already, when he suddenly heard a noise and jumped, being startled back into reality.

Immediately, he steeled himself, alert again, as he looked around the tower nervously. Had the beast come back?

At that thought, Theo pressed his back against the tower wall a little further, the fear that he had really come back crashing down around him, and his heart racing in his chest terrified. Theo steeled himself, forcing himself to be ready for it in case had come back.

But Theo didn’t see him, as that became clear after carefully looking around the tower. A noise, that clearly came from the lock, startled him then though, and Theo swallowed, his breath catching in his throat, because if that wasn’t the beast who had come for him, then who was?

Theo’s fists were clenched by his sides, all of him alert and stiff in a way he’s never really had to be before, to be at least a little ready to do _something_ , if it turned out to be the beast who had come back after all.

Slowly, warily, he took a step closer to the door, but one last noise from the lock made him jump, before the door swung open wide. Theo jumped back, but even as the door flew open, he realized he didn’t see _him_ , and it left him with an incredibly relieved feeling in his chest, a weight that had been lifted off his shoulders. It was soon then, though, that a second realization hit him, and it suddenly got through to him that he didn’t actually see anyone.

‘Hello?’ he asked, warily, hesitantly, but still grateful for whoever decided to open the door for him.

‘Hello!’ a small voice greeted him back then, cheerfully, and Theo looked down and jumped, again, because he hadn’t expected to be freed from this tower and greeted by a fucking _talking golden candlestick and shiny, old-fashioned-looking clock._

He thought he shouldn’t feel so startled by it after literally having seen a big beast, but he couldn’t help but freak out a little bit at the sight anyway. Unable to hold back the choked noise he’d made when he realized that they were, in fact, _alive_ , and before he knew what he was doing, he’d reached his foot back and kicked forward, effectively kicking the golden candlestick against the wall of the tower across from the cell.

Then the candlestick had groaned softly, mumbling that he was strong, and Theo had jumped back in shock, as he didn’t even know what the hell was even happening anymore in this castle where the furniture seemed to be alive and the main resident was a giant beast. ‘You can talk!?’ he exclaimed. He still couldn’t wrap his head around how that could possibly even have happened, because how could a candlestick and a clock ever be alive, and the realization hit him that this was what Tara had talked about earlier, when she talked about the castle. No matter how hard Theo tried to comprehend it all, the situation that he found himself in all of a sudden, it still freaked him out, and he couldn’t stop his heart racing in his chest from the discovery of it all.

He watched down at the two pieces of furniture with wide eyes, his heart still hammering in his chest and ready to do something if he had to, with the candlestick and the clock looking back up at him patiently as he took a deep breath, trying to steady his breathing, and once he had, and his heart was a little calmer again, they started talking again. They both introduced themselves as Lumière and Cogsworth, and explained to him that they were here to take him to his bedroom. Once they’d reassured Theo of the fact that it was okay, to leave the tower, and that their master, the beast, knew about it too, Theo left the tower and walked with them down the stairs. _How did I end up in this situation?_ he thought. _How did I end up talking to a living candlestick and clock!?_

As they guided him to his bedroom though, something Theo was thoroughly grateful about, the realization that they were nice enough, for living furniture at least, hit him, and even though he was still a little bit weirded out to be talking to them, at least that was something.

‘You’ll have to forgive him, our master,’ Lumière said from where Theo was holding him in his hand. ‘He’s not great at giving first impressions. But we didn’t mean to startle you.’

Theo let out a bitter laugh at that, as the comment still felt ironic to him. ‘Why would I be startled?’ he questioned sarcastically. ‘I’m only talking to a candle, that’s all.’

He’d definitely have to get used to this.

‘Well, consider me at your service anyway,’ Lumière continued. ‘This castle is your own now, feel free to go anywhere you like.’

A sad feeling washed over Theo at the words, the realization that he indeed had to stay here now instead of going back to his family hitting him. A soft sigh escaped his lips at the thought that he would most likely never see his family again, that he would never leave this place again and see Tara and his mom again.

Theo was so lost in his thought, that he almost missed Cogsworth speaking up again, interrupting his thoughts as he said: ‘Except, uh, for the west wing…’ And Theo snapped his head to the side when he caught Lumière waving his… hands, he guessed, out of the corner of his eye, in response, to stop Cogsworth from talking.

Theo slowed at that, sensing the tension between the two, a sharp feeling that he had in his chest letting him that something was actually going on here. ‘Why?’ he asked with a frown as he looked down at them, curiously, though he couldn’t shake the slightly dreaded feeling that he had as well, because whatever it was, he could tell that it wasn’t any good. ‘What’s in the west wing?’

‘Uh… Nothing!’ Lumière said as he and Cogsworth shot each other a nervous look that only worked to confirm Theo’s suspicions. ‘Nothing, nothing that is important anyway. Let’s just lead you to your room now.’

Theo followed after Cogsworth slowly, walking through the corridor that would lead to his bedroom, as they gave him directions in which way he needed to go. It was a nice, big corridor, fancily decorated again, but just like with the entrance of the castle, and the hallway which he’d seen on his way in, there was something that didn’t seem right about these decorations. They were all made out of grey stone and cement, dark and uninviting, and all with just a thin layer of dust on top. Theo got the feeling that something was wrong, as decorations in a castle like this should be well taken care of, and he couldn’t take his mind off of the little incident considering the west wing. In his mind, the secret idea formed to go and pay a visit to the west wing later, in the evening. He’d take the chance he could get, because he had the weird feeling that he might some kind of answer there, for the madness that he found himself in.

When they’d reached his bedroom, Theo stopped in front of it and pushed open the doors, peeking inside. It was a big bedroom, luxurious with expensive-looking furniture and decorations, and after taking a look around the room, Theo’s jaw dropped, as he sure as hell wasn’t used to any kind of fancy stuff like this. At home, he just had a small bedroom that he had to share with Tara.

This was something else entirely.

‘I see you like it,’ Lumière said something, with something that resembled a grin. ‘I hope at least tonight, you can get some rest here. And… For tonight, you can get ready here for dinner.’

Theo turned around, surprised. ‘Dinner?’ he asked with a frown. ‘I can get dinner?’

‘Of course,’ Lumière replied. ‘You’re our guest now, we won’t let our guests go to bed without dinner. We just have to let master Liam know, but he’s gotta be okay with it.’

Theo stayed silent for a moment, processing the new information that Lumière had given him. ‘Liam?’ he asked. ‘His… His name is Liam?’

Theo didn’t want to think about it. Knowing his name, knowing that the beast had such a name, almost made him seem human. But thinking about the fur all over him, him being covered in it, his sharp teeth and the horns on his head made Theo shiver, and thinking about the way he ruthlessly locked his sister up for picking a rose and keeping him here for the rest of his life, made him tremble with the anger coursing through his veins. So no, he didn’t want to think about it, about anything that could possibly make that monster any more human.

‘We should go inform him,’ Lumière said, with his attention directed at Cogsworth, before he turned back to Theo. ‘I hope you can… At least get some rest here before dinner starts.’

Theo looked around the room, and despite how big and maybe nice it was, he couldn’t help but think about how unlikely that was. He couldn’t just forget the circumstances in which he’d come to this place.

‘We’ll get you again for dinner,’ Lumière interrupted his thoughts, him and Cogsworth already heading for the door again, as clumsy as that looked for the two of them together. Theo suppressed a snort. ‘You can stay here,’ Lumière said then, which Theo knew, was actually more an order than a suggestion. He remained silent, giving a short, slightly annoyed nod, and only turned around when the door closed behind them.

With a sigh, Theo crossed his arms and took a look around the room, at the big bed and wardrobe and how light it was, and another soft sigh spilled past his lips. Slowly, he walked over to the bed, a hopeless feeling washing over him, settling in his stomach as he brushed his fingers over the surprisingly soft bedcovers. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do here, he thought then, as he stood completely still, frozen, in the middle of the room. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do here in this fancy room that he didn’t even want to be in, and how he could ever get out of here again.

*****

Theo’s thoughts were interrupted with a loud knocking on the door, that startled him, and made him look over his shoulder towards the door. Quickly, he stood up, facing the door in case it opened and he needed to be ready. ‘Who is it?’

‘Me!’ a growling voice responded, making Theo shiver again, the little hairs in his neck stand up. ‘It’s dinner time!’

It sounded like an order, a wave of anger crashing over Theo as it coursed hot through his veins, his jaw clenched, and he clenched his fists by his side. ‘I’m not hungry!’ he called through gritted teeth as he shook his head, even though it wasn’t true and his stomach rumbled softly, unable to believe the nerve of this… This monster.

He walked over to the door, but footsteps pacing back and forth on the other side followed by loud banging on the door with his fist startled Theo, catching him off guard.

‘I told you to join me for dinner!’ the beast growled, yelling loudly.

A wave of anger washed over Theo as he had his fists clenched by his sides, his chest rising and falling quickly as his breath came out rapidly. He truly couldn’t believe this guy. ‘After everything you’ve done to my sister and now me!?’ he snarled. ‘Are you insane!?’

‘Fine!’ the beast shouted through the door. ‘Then there’s no food for you, that’s fine by me!’ And it was then that Theo realized how petty and childish he sounded with that comment. _Sending me to bed without dinner?_ He thought. _Seriously? How old do you think we are?_

‘Good!’ he growled back, feeling his anger rising in his stomach, and he had to hold himself back from kicking the door. ‘Because I already told you no!’ he shouted, snapping at the beast through the door. He had no desire at all to see him right now, if he did, he didn’t know what he might do. ‘I would rather starve than eat with you!’

He didn’t have to wait long for another answer in their screaming match. ‘Well, that’s good, because that’s exactly what you’re gonna do right now. You can forget about your food now!’

The shouted reply was followed by loud footsteps, marching away in a different direction away from the doors, and Theo took a deep breath, slowly unfolding his clenched fists. The nerve of his beast… After all he had done to his sister, and to him, he thought he could just invite him for dinner with him!? What kind of answer did he expect!? Theo didn’t know what to make of it. Except to say that this beast clearly didn’t have any idea of how normal, civil conversations should go, and that he only cared about himself and what he wanted. In the short time that they’d known each other, Theo had learned that he was selfish and unkind like that, and he’d figured that much out already.

A deep sigh escaped from Theo’s lips and he turned around, started pacing back and forth around the room, restless and tense. It didn’t take him long before he marched towards the bed, a frustrated groan escaping his lips, before he pulled back and kicked his foot against it, hard, out of pure and utter frustration.

He didn’t want to be here anymore, didn’t want to be locked inside some castle where the main resident was a monster. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve to be here.

Maybe there was a way out. A way out of the window that could lead him back outside, that could help him escape this castle and get out of here, so he could get back to his mom and Tara and would never have to have such an unpleasant conversation as he just had again.

Frustrated, he walked over the window, his fists clenched by his sides, and peered out of the window. He was shocked, and disappointed, to see how high it was, though it didn’t completely surprise him, since this room was in a tower after all. Theo sighed, turning around and leaning back against the wall as he wondered how he would ever get out of here now. That, though, was when the big, long curtains next to the window caught his eye, and an idea popped into his head.

He could tie them together, and climb down as he hung them out of the window. That would surely be his way out of here.

With newfound determination, Theo pushed away from the wall again and stared up at the curtains, ready to take them off the rails and get to work, and to see his family again.

*****

Theo was in the middle of tying his curtains together, standing by the window which was pretty high-up much to his dismay and hanging his curtain-rope out the window to see if it was long enough already, when a second, quiet knock on the door interrupted him. A little startled, worried that he had come back, he looked over his shoulder. He hoped that no one would come in right now and see him like this, in the middle of what he was doing here right now.

‘I told you to go away!’ he yelled, over his shoulder towards the door, as he didn’t want to see the beast right then. Or Liam. Or whatever the hell his name was.

‘It’s not him,’ Lumière’s voice sounded already as he pushed the doors open and came in. ‘It’s just me, don’t worry.’

Theo turned around, away from the window and trying to stand in front of the curtains a little to hide them from Lumière’s view, but he could tell Lumière could see it anyway by the way he took a look at the rope, and looked from the window back to Theo.

‘We were wondering if you were hungry,’ he said then, looking up at Theo. ‘And if you’re gonna make the way back tonight, it’s best to not do that with an empty stomach.’

Theo glanced towards the rope, internally groaning. Great. Now he couldn’t use this anymore as his way out of the castle, now that they’d seen it. Now he had to think of something else.

It was only then, though, that Lumière’s words really got through to him.

‘Wait,’ he asked. ‘What? But… I thought…’

‘No dinner if it’s not with him?’ Lumière asked. ‘Don’t worry, master Liam says a lot of things when he’s angry and talks before he thinks, but you don’t always gotta take it so seriously.’

Theo nodded, frowned at the weird, unexpected little bit of information and insight that Lumière had given him, and that he hadn’t even really asked for.

‘So,’ Lumière said then, thankfully taking Theo’s mind off of it. ‘If you’d like to come with me, we made a little something for you anyway.’

As if right on cue, as an answer to Lumière’s comment, Theo’s stomach rumbled weakly, and Lumière let out a laugh. ‘Sounds like we’re right on time. Come with me.’

Theo thought that that was enough to leave his curtain-rope behind and followed after Lumière, walking out into the hallway. As he did, though, he couldn’t help feeling like more of a guest than a prisoner, but he had no trouble reminding himself that he couldn’t. He wasn’t a guest, even if it felt like it right then, with the fact that they’d cooked something specially for him and had given him this bedroom. But he wasn’t, not when he remembered the way he’d gotten here and traded his freedom for his sister’s, and he couldn’t let himself forget that. He couldn’t lose sight of the important things, and feel even the slightest bit comfortable here. Not even for a second.

*****

After dinner, which had been surprisingly amazing and delicious and during which they told Theo to try the grey stuff since it was delicious, they told Theo to go back to his room. Lumière, Cogsworth and someone who was introduced to him as Mrs. Potts said that it was okay and that he didn’t need to help clean up the dishes, and so he did. With a soft sigh escaping his lips he walked up the stairs, just as the bitter growl of the beast’s voice reached his ears, angry at the rest of the… Staff, for making him something to eat. Theo rolled his eyes, climbing further up the stairs, but paused where the staircase split into two. His eyes wandered up to the stairs that lead in another direction than his bedroom, to the west wing, and he looked over his shoulder. When he was sure that no one was following after him, he ran further up the stairs, climbing further up the one that would lead to the infamous west wing, to investigate and check out for himself what was being hidden from him there.

A little out of breath, he stepped into the dark, big, hidden away attic of the castle, looking around and feeling a wave of shock washing over him once his eyes got used to the dark and he saw what was happening there. Torn up paintings and pictures all caught his attention and he swallowed, his breath caught in his throat, as it became clear to him that something was wrong. Really wrong. _What had happened here?_ He thought. _What had happened to that beast?_

Slowly, Theo walked further into the attic, towards one of the torn paintings that seemed to be of a young man, around his age, with a serious look on his face, no smile, dark blonde hair, and eyes that seemed bluer than the ocean. Curiously, the painting having captured his attention, Theo took a step closer to it, taking it all in and letting his eyes wander over it slowly. _Who was that?_ He wondered. _Who was that man on the painting?_ He took a look at the claw marks that went right through the middle of the painting, that were obviously done by the beast, and wondered if he and the man knew each other. Why would the beast tear up the painting?

Theo averted his gaze then, his attention really caught by something glowing out of the corner of his eye, and when he looked around, his eyes fell on a lightly glowing rose under a glass bell jar standing in front of the window of the tower, hidden away even further into the tower.

Theo frowned, wondering why the hell anyone would have a _glowing_ rose in their castle, as he had never seen such a thing before, and as he asked himself what it was and what it was for, he walked towards it hurriedly. Up close, the rose seemed to glow even brighter and Theo stared down at it with his jaw dropped, reaching out with his hand and letting his fingers brush carefully over the glass bell jar, taking a look at the few rose petals lying on the bottom of the jar. _What was this?_

Curiously, Theo reached out and lifted up the glass bell jar, revealing the glowing rose underneath so he could get a better look at it. Just as he did, though, loud, fast footsteps behind him startled him, making him jump with his neck hairs suddenly standing on end as the beast suddenly stood before him again, letting out a bitter growl.

‘What are you doing here!? What the hell did you do to it!?’

Theo swallowed, taking a step back as fear settled in his stomach, and he shivered, forcing himself to meet the beast’s eyes even as it scared him, and even as the beast seemed to be more busy with the rose. ‘N-Nothing!’ he snarled, sounding more confident than he felt, and the beast, or Liam, or whatever his name was, looked over at him.

‘Do you have any idea what you could’ve done!?’ he exclaimed. ‘Don’t ever touch this again! Get out!’

Theo stumbled backwards, taking a step back as the fear made way for anger, burning in his stomach. ‘But, I…’ he started, though the beast didn’t let him finish. ‘Get out! Go!’ he called, his low voice echoing through the tower, bouncing off the wall, and making it seem that much louder.

Theo turned, running faster than he ever thought he could, the sound of his footsteps rattling in his ears and drowning out everything else, except for the growling voice of the beast screaming at him and telling him to get out. Theo ran out of the attic then, down the stairs as fast as he could without falling, and didn’t stop in the hallway even when Lumière shouted his name, calling after him.

‘Where are you going!?’

‘I’m gonna get out of here, I’ve been here long enough!’ Theo snarled, as it was the only answer he was gonna give Lumière. He pushed the door open then, hard, the careful and sneaky plan of using the curtains to sneak out of the window forgotten, as the wooden door made a slightly crashing sound as it flew open. Theo stumbled outside, into the snow, and ignored Lumière and Cogsworth calling after him as he made his way straight to Philippe, still tied up outside the castle. Hurriedly, he climbed onto his horse, wasting no time to press his heels in Philippe’s waist to urge him to run, fast, out of this place. His fight with the beast over dinner had been bad enough, but this was it for him. Why should he spend time around someone like that, who treated everyone around him like they were anything less than human? Who locked his sister up and then did the same to him?

‘Come on, Philippe,’ he urged breathlessly, a wave of relief washing over him as the horse did what he said and ran out of the castle garden, the sound of the hooves thumping on the ground being the only thing that Theo heard, as it drowned out everything else and rattled in his ears. Vaguely, he still heard Lumière and Cogsworth calling his name, but soon, that was gone too, and the only thing left in Theo’s mind were the sound of Philippe’s hooves and the thought that that rose, was apparently even more important than he thought. It really must’ve mattered to the beast, to warrant that kind of reaction.

*****

Soon, the night fell, and it didn’t take long before everything turned dark and cold. As Theo slowed Philippe down a little, he thought that he should’ve chosen a better time to run away. He didn’t know it here, had no idea where he could seek shelter for the night. But the way that that… Beast, had thrown him out of the castle, how much choice did he have?

‘Ssh, slow down, Philippe,’ he muttered, pulling at the bridles until they were walking at a normal pace. Worriedly, Theo looked around him at the unfamiliar surroundings, the path that he’d never been on before, and he could only hope that Philippe still remembered the way home. Though the way it was now, Theo highly doubted it. Philippe seemed restless and uneasy, constantly huffing and pulling at the bridles, and the uneasy feeling that something wasn’t right creeped on Theo, his stomach fluttering heavily.

A soft growl, coming from between the trees, alarmed him then, interrupting his thoughts and startling him, and with a shock he pulled Philippe to a stop, looking around him.

Wolves. There were wolves, all around him, waiting for him between the trees.

Immediately, Theo’s breath hitched, caught in his throat, and he swallowed. A wave of panic crashed around him, making his stomach flutter and making him hyperaware of the danger around him, and with his teeth nervously biting down on his lip, he pressed his heels against Philippe’s waist again.

The horse didn’t move.

‘Come on, Philippe,’ he pleaded desperately, his voice sounding high and hoarse even to his own ears. ‘Walk, please. We have to go.’

Desperately, seeing the wolves coming closer to him out of the corner of his eyes, he pressed his heels against Philippe’s waist once more, hard, but the horse stood still for one more moment, frozen, before suddenly rushing forward unexpectedly. Theo’s breath caught in his throat, startled, and he desperately tried to hold on tight to his horse, even though he already knew it was no use. He couldn’t stop falling backwards, off the horse, and landing painfully on his arm on the ground with a loud thump. It forced a cough out of him and with a grunt, Theo forced himself to look up, watching with a blurry vision to where Philippe was running off to and the wolves walked closer to him slowly. They weren’t fast, but the way they were showing their teeth, growling softly, was enough for another wave of panic to wash over Theo, his stomach fluttering and shivering terrified, and before he knew it he stood up again, doing the only thing he could think of in that moment. Tightly, he held onto a big branch from a tree that had been lying next to the path, his throat feeling tight with fear from the wolves that were coming closer still, but something better to make sure he stayed alive, he couldn’t find. He was alone, in a part of the woods that he didn’t know without a place to stay for the night or a horse, there were wolves here now, and he had to try his hardest to even stay alive. _How had his life even come to this?_

Desperately, he swung the branch around, in the direction of the wolves to try and keep them away, but deep down he knew that it was no use. How could he even defend himself against a pack of wolves, with nothing more than a tree branch? Theo didn’t think that he’d ever been so scared in his life, as he was right now.

Then, as if his thoughts had been heard, the loud sound of hooves interrupted his panic and Theo looked up, feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders when Philippe ran back into the woods, back to him. ‘Philippe!’

The horse huffed, turning and coming to stand in between him and the wolves, like a wall. Theo swung the branch around, trying to reach his horse and climb back onto him, though he felt like he shouldn’t be surprised when one of the wolves bit into the branch, clenching his jaw tight around it, and pulled it hard out of Theo’s hand. Immediately, the panic that had disappeared only a moment before returned tenfold, crashing around him, and when a wolf jumped in between him and Philippe, the last shred of hope that he was still holding onto slipped away again. Now all he could do was stare straight at the growling wolves before him, and hope that they wouldn't eat him.

_How was he supposed to get away from here now?_

He didn’t expect the answer to that question to come so soon, but it did, and when a loud growl and the thumping of footsteps reached Theo’s ears, he jumped, turning around to where the beast was standing between him and the wolves, letting out a loud growl to scare them off and catching Theo off guard.

He hadn’t expected _him_ of all people to suddenly show up here. And why even would he, after literally kicking him out of the castle?

Theo held his breath, frozen in place, as he watched the beast taking on the wolves by himself, using his claws and growling at them to fight them, but it soon became clear that it wasn’t going so well, that he wasn’t going to win this fight.

The wolves were with so many that they could easily overpower the beast if they did it together, and a pained growl escaped from his mouth. Theo’s breath caught in his throat, and he watched with shaking hands at the fight before him as the wolves jumped at the beast, which he could barely hold off all at once. Theo swallowed, he knew that if he didn’t get out of here now, they would attack him again next once the beast was down. With trembling hands he turned around to Philippe, getting the horse ready to climb on top and run away. A loud thump behind him though, followed by a pained gasp and the loud growling of the wolves, let him know that the wolves had finally overpowered the beast.

With a shaky breath, Theo looked over his shoulder, to where the beast was lying on the ground with bloody claw marks from the wolves all over his body and the wolves walking closer to him still, but he didn’t expect the beast to give one last loud, pained growl, effectively scaring the wolves away. Immediately, they turned, letting out a high whiney noise as they ran away with their tails between their legs and disappeared in the darkness between the trees.

Theo swallowed, turning back to Philippe with the bridles in his hands, ready to get out of here. He knew that if he didn’t do it now, he might not get another chance, if he was fast, he could maybe get back to the village before the night really came.

Halfway through getting up on the horse, though, he froze, a soft, pained breath behind him stopping him from doing so. Slowly, Theo looked over his shoulder, to where the beast was still lying on the ground, his eyes only slightly closes, his pained breathing and the cuts all over his body. Theo swallowed, but he knew he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t leave.

He knew it was ridiculous, to give up his only chance at freedom and willingly return to the castle as a prisoner. But the beast had saved his life, if not from the wolves then surely from getting lost in the woods, he had actually saved his life and Theo knew he couldn’t just leave him behind here after that, even after the horrible way he’d been treated tonight. He was shocked to see that he had come after him, but Theo knew that he had to do this one little thing for him.

With a sigh he turned around, walking closer to the beast, or Liam, as Theo supposed his name was, and he kneeled before him. ‘Can you get up?’ he asked softly. ‘Can you stand?’

Liam opened his eyes, looking up at him with a soft look of surprise on his face at the sudden action, and said nothing. Theo looked over his shoulder, to where Philippe was still standing still patiently. ‘We can bring you back to the castle.’

And so, with the help Liam himself and a little bit of Philippe, Theo managed to help him get up on his feet again, on Philippe’s back, and Theo took the bridles in his hands. He wasn’t strong enough to take Liam all the way back to the castle, but fortunately Philippe could.

Next to Philippe, with Liam on his back, Theo walked back over the path, leading the horse with him with the bridles in his hands, and together, they made their way back to the castle.


	4. Something There

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! I hope you like it!

# Slowly, Theo helped Liam up the stairs to where his bedroom was, as best as he could when Liam was so much bigger than him. Lumière and Cogsworth followed after them slowly, and Theo could tell by the looks on what were supposed to be their faces that they were only concerned but grateful that he had come back with Liam.

‘Come on,’ he urged softly, trying to help Liam without risking coming too close to him. ‘Into bed.’ 

Liam huffed, grumpily, but did what he said without saying a word, and crawled under the covers. Theo stared down at him, his arms crossed over his chest, though from what he could see, the cuts weren’t so bad. They would heal, and probably soon as well. ‘Stay here, I’m just gonna get a washcloth and a glass of water,’ Theo said quietly then, feeling tense in the room with everyone looking at him, and hurriedly, he walked out of the room. 

After getting the stuff he said he would, he returned to the room, and hesitantly sat down on the edge of the bed without getting too close to Liam. He didn’t want to find out what the consequences for him were if he came to close to the beast against his will. 

‘This’ll help,’ he said, flatly. ‘Now turn your back to me.’ 

Liam stared up at him, looking from him to the washcloth and back with a distrusting look in his eyes. ‘Why?’ 

Theo couldn’t help but let out a tired sigh at that, forcing himself to remember that he had just saved his life and forget how rude he had been to him all night for just a moment. ‘So I can clean those cuts,’ he explained shortly. ‘It’s necessary.’ 

Liam huffed, but did what he said anyway and turned his back to him. Theo narrowed his eyes, leaning forward a little bit so he could see better, and carefully let his fingers brush over the surprisingly soft fur on Liam’s back. ‘It’s not too bad, thankfully,’ he mumbled, grabbing the washcloth from where it was lying beside him on the bed. ‘But this might sting a little.’ 

Softly, he pressed the washcloth against one of the cuts on Liam’s back, but just like he expected, a raw and pained growl escaped from Liam’s lips and he squirmed, trying to get away from the washcloth. ‘Stop that! It hurts!’ 

Theo let out a sigh, that he couldn’t help but sound exasperated. ‘You know, if you just lay still, maybe it wouldn’t hurt as much.’ 

Liam didn’t seem pleased with they way Theo talked back to him, turning on his back with an angry look on his face and yanked the blanket out of Theo’s grip. ‘All of this is your fault anyway,’ he mumbled, snarling. ‘If you hadn’t run away…’ 

Theo couldn’t help the anger that returned to him at that comment, annoyance burning just under his skin. ‘You told me to go,’ he snapped, his patience running thin. He didn’t what this beast’s problem was, but if Liam disliked him so much, then why did he go through the trouble of coming after him and saving his life? 

‘Yeah, and you shouldn’t have been in the west wing in the first place! Didn’t Lumière tell you that!?’ Liam snapped back, before turning on his other side with a huff, his back to Theo. 

Theo let out a soft breath, managing to resist the urge to let out a frustrated scream, and narrowed his eyes. Liam’s back turned to him gave him a good view of the cuts covering his back, and carefully, so to not hurt Liam any further, he wiped away some of the dried blood that was still there. He couldn’t help but notice though, how Liam’s shoulders seemed to shake a little then and how he suddenly seemed small in the bed, and heard the soft breath spilling past his lips. Theo shook his head; it was probably nothing. With a soft sigh, he stood up, placing the washcloth on the nightstand next to the bed and walked past Lumière, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts, who followed him out the door into the hallway. 

There, as they slowly walked back to Theo’s own bedroom, he couldn’t stay quiet anymore and asked the question that had been circling around in his mind ever since he saw the paintings in the west wing and took Liam back to the castle. ‘Can I… Can I ask what’s going on here?’ he asked, hoping it didn’t sound impolite. ‘With, eh, with Liam, I mean. Has he… Has he always been like this?’ 

He couldn’t deny that he was afraid to ask, but the looks in Lumière, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts eyes were nothing but understanding. 

‘No,’ Mrs. Potts replied softly. ‘Did you… Did you see the paintings in the west wing? You have, haven’t you?’ 

Theo nodded quietly, and it stayed silent for only a moment before Mrs. Potts continued. ‘That was Liam, on the paintings. He’s lived in this castle all his life, and we’ve been here ever since he was just a young boy. But… His mother died when he was still at a young age, and his father was not a nice man. Liam looked up to him, and of course he took over some of his habits. As he got older, those habits only grew stronger. He lost himself a little bit. And not everyone was so forgiving.’ 

Theo frowned, still finding the story a little bit vague, though he thought he could ask more later. ‘But… Why did this happen to you too?’ he asked carefully then, looking from Mrs. Potts to Lumière and Cogsworth. It made sense for them to suffer from whatever had happened to Liam as well, if he really was the man in the paintings, and they had been living here with him ever since he was only young. They all must’ve been real people once, and Theo wondered what on earth it was exactly that had happened to them. If there was a way to undo what had been done. He remembered the rose, with some petals lying around on the bottom of the bell jar, and asked himself if maybe that could have anything to do with it. 

‘You didn’t do anything,’ he said then. 

‘No,’ Mrs. Potts replied sadly. ‘You’re right there, we didn’t do anything, as Liam started to be more and more like his father.’ 

They arrived outside of his bedroom door then, and Mrs. Potts sighed. ‘Now, go to bed for now, tomorrow’s a new day.’ 

Theo bit his lip, still feeling confused with the discoveries he’d made and the tons of question running in his mind, feeling like the conversation wasn’t quite done yet, but he didn’t push. With a soft sigh, he pushed open his bedroom door, saying goodbye to the three outside, and walked inside. He couldn’t deny that he was tired, thinking over how much had happened to him over the course of one single day, and if he wanted to be rested tomorrow and ready to face Liam again, he thought that a good night’s sleep wouldn’t hurt. 

Softly, he pushed the door close behind him, changed into something simpler and crawled into bed with a yawn, his eyes falling shut and sleep taking him as soon as his head hit the pillow. 

***** 

His pencil made soft grey lines on the paper of the sketchbook he had on his lap, making a slightly scratching sound where it touched the paper, and he drew in concentration as he occasionally looked up and around the room that was the inspiration for his drawing, accentuating where Mrs. Potts, Lumière and Cogsworth were standing in one corner of the room. 

Theo had gotten up early that morning, something he was used to from his village, and beat even Mrs. Potts to it as she was just coming to wake him. He got dressed with something clean and simple he found in the closet and followed them downstairs for a quick breakfast. He’d wanted to check up on Liam once more after that, though he wasn’t sure where that thought had suddenly come from. The night before hadn’t been easy for him, but the blamed the fact that Liam had saved his life, and the slight bit of insight in Liam that Mrs. Potts had given him. 

He pressed a clean washcloth against Liam’s forehead and cuts once more, but he was looking a lot better than he had the night before, and Theo knew that he wasn’t the only one who was feelingbetter after a peaceful night of sleep. Liam seemed physically okay, just tired and half asleep, and Theo had sat down in the chair beside to his bed to stay and draw the room a little. 

Now, Theo was startled with a soft groan from beside him, his head snapped to look at Liam as he leaned up on his elbows, and blinked. ‘What… What the hell are you doing here?’ he groaned quietly. 

Theo sighed, swallowing the urge to reply with a sarcastic good morning to you too as it were the first kind of civil words that Liam had said to him and he wanted to keep that sort of friendly place they were in now. Instead he said: ‘I, uh, came to check up on you once more, see if you were alright.’ 

Liam stayed silent at that for a moment, before his eyes travelled further down and his gaze fell on the sketchbook with the drawing of the room still on Theo’s lap. ‘What is that?’ he asked. ‘What are you doing?’ 

Startled, Theo slapped the sketchbook shut, hiding the drawing from Liam’s prying eyes, and coughed. ‘Uh, nothing,’ he managed, still surprised with the sudden change in atmosphere between them. ‘Nothing special.’ 

Liam scoffed at that, shuffling around a bit until he sat up with his back against the pillows and took a look at the sketch. ‘Huh, yeah, I guess you’re right about that,’ he mumbled. 

Immediately, Theo felt his annoyance bubbling up in his stomach again, and his eyes widened. ‘Excuse me?’ he asked, unable to hide the obvious offence and surprise in his voice, at the rude comment that Liam made about his drawing. What was that supposed to mean? And where was the weird, sort of friendly atmosphere that had been there a moment ago? Did Liam like to be so confusing? 

‘Hmm, I mean, I’ve seen better,’ Liam replied bluntly, but softly tapping his clawed finger on the covers of his bed. ‘I can show you something, if you want,’ he added then, his voice suddenly sounding more shy. 

Theo looked up at that, unable to hide the surprise on his face. ‘Serious?’ 

‘Yeah, why not?’ Liam asked with a tone as if Theo had just asked the stupidest question ever. ‘Come on,’ he said, as he threw aside his bedcovers, clearly feeling better from last night, and put his hairy feet on the ground. 

Theo followed after him, through corridors of the castle he didn’t know even though he didn’t get much time to take a good look at them as he had to try to keep up with Liam and his long legs, until they stopped in front of two large, expensive-looking doors. 

Liam pushed them open, Theo stepping in after him, in what he thought was paradise itself. It was an art studio, decorated by all kinds of painted pictures which Theo guessed were Liam’s, some of which had to be from when he was younger judging by their style, and the wall to his right was lined with a large wooden cabinet filled with all kinds of supplies you would need for art. Paintbrushes, paint, pencils and paper and even painting canvases, everything was there. And there, right across from the doors, were large, glass windows, right from the floor up to the ceiling that let in the most welcomed, warm sunlight. 

Theo could feel a blush creeping up on his cheeks at the sight, a warm feeling spreading through him, as a disbelieving smile pulled at his lips and a wide grin appeared on his face in awe. 

He already knew this was gonna be his favorite place in the whole castle. He loved it. 

‘Is… Everything okay?’ Liam’s voice interrupted his thoughts, from where he was standing a little further to the right, closer to the cabinet on the far right of the room. 

‘Yeah,’ Theo nodded after he tuned back into reality, his smile still plastered surely on his face, and the butterflies upon seeing the place still fluttering wildly in his stomach. ‘It’s… It’s great,’ he said warmly. 

Liam stayed silent at that, his eyes widened a little in surprise as he looked around the room as if he just saw it for the very first time. ‘Yeah, I… I guess it is,’ he mumbled, before turning away and starting to walk towards the cabinet. 

‘Did you paint all of these pictures?’ Theo called after him in a wave of curiosity then, before he lost the courage to speak to him again, and gestured to the paintings on the walls around them. 

Liam turned around, looking up at them, before he shrugged. ‘Some of them, I guess,’ he said, before the corner of his mouth pulled up just slightly in what most people would say was a smile, barely even detectable. ‘Others I got from Claude Hoin.’ 

Theo snorted at that, an unexpected sound at the equally as unexpected comment from Liam. He didn’t think the other would make a joke so soon, about receiving paintings from the famous painter, but he thought it was funny, which was, in all honesty, a bit alarming and made the smile disappear from his face. 

Liam walked away then, towards the cabinet at the end of the room, and Theo looked around. The smile returning to his face and the blush creeping on his cheeks again. His hands were itching to use the art supplies in the cabinet, to paint here, and he hoped maybe someday he could. Until then, he just wanted to stay here until the days’ end. 

***** 

After that, Theo noticed a slight change in atmosphere between him and Liam. That night, they ate together, after Liam gave in and admitted that not allowing Theo dinner was a bit stupid, after a little pressure from the staff. Theo was shocked with Liam’s table manners, though he couldn’t help but laugh at it a little. 

They went back to the art studio after that, where they just sat and Liam allowed Theo to grab a sketchbook and a pencil and sat down in the corner of the room across from him. Theo looked around the room, lazily dragging his pencil across the paper and sketching the room, and in one corner, he drew small, little figure that looked like Liam. 

The next day they had breakfast together, and as neither of them knew what to do after that since the hostility between them had disappeared and made way for this weird, stiff, tense tolerance, Liam suggested they’d take a walk together in the garden outside of the castle, in the snow. 

As they walked over the little bridge over the frozen lake in the garden where it always seemed to be winter, Theo let out a little gasp in awe as he saw how beautiful it all was. Some time, he thought, he should draw this too. 

When Liam came to a stop behind him, standing still in the middle of the bridge with his face towards the lake, Theo turned, the unspoken question if he was okay clear on his face. 

‘I feel like I’m seeing it for the first time,’ Liam said quietly, leaning forward across the stone edge of the bridge. 

Theo stepped forward, coming to stand beside him. ‘You have a great view here,’ he said, and when Liam only hummed in acknowledgement and mumbled a soft ‘You’re right, I do’ with a wistful look in his eyes, Theo wondered what he was thinking of. 

They turned it into a full snow day then, spending the rest of it outside. Theo’s horse Philippe, who was still tied up outside, was taken to the beautiful backyard to be fed and taken care of, and slowly, Theo showed Liam how to pet him. 

Philippe didn’t seem too eager to let Liam anywhere near him, mostly because he was so big and wanted to get too close too fast, and when Philippe huffed irritated and a little scared, Liam took a stumbling step backwards with a disappointed look on his face. Theo rushed forward, softly brushing the horse’s nose and calming him back down. He looked over his shoulder then, urging Liam to come closer. 

‘Come on,’ he said, not even thinking about it when he put his hand over Liam’s paw and lifted it up so they could pet Philippe together. Liam’s eyes widened a bit, seeming surprised, and he looked over at Theo, who nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. He pulled his hand off of Liam’s again then, and when he looked at the other again, he suddenly noticed how entirely human and beautifully blue they still seemed. 

Immediately, Theo’s breath caught in his throat, because that was definitely alarming and he should not be thinking that, and he turned away to leave Liam alone with Philippe and walked away to the steps of the castle. 

As he watched Liam interact with Philippe, all careful and calm to not scare the horse again, petting him a little unsure, a smile tugged at Theo’s mouth and he wondered how he had not seen that uncertain side of Liam before. It suddenly seemed to be there now, it was all new and left his chest warm, despite how hard Theo tried to push that feeling away as it shouldn’t even be there in the first place. Thinking of liking the guy who had him locked up was too much for him in that moment, and so, Theo didn’t think about it. 

Softly, he scraped his hands over the cement rails of the steps to the castle, scooping up a bit of snow and forming it into the perfect little ball. With a smile on his face, he threw the ball at Liam, letting out a laugh when it hit him on the side of the face and fell off again, and the unwanted thought that it looked ‘cute’ came up in his head when a little bit off snow still stuck to Liam’s nose. 

He hadn’t expected Liam to actually throw a slightly bigger ball at him then, seemingly mad about Theo’s action before a soft laugh escaped his lips, and before they knew it, they were chasing each other around the snow-white garden. 

‘I’ll get you for that!’ Liam exclaimed, and Theo could hear the smile in his voice. 

‘Oh yeah!?’ he called over his shoulder. ‘You’ll have to find me first!’ 

With that, he dove behind a tree giggling, knowing that Liam would find him there anyway within the first five seconds, and wasn’t surprised when another snowball came flying towards him and hit him across the chest. They continued their snowball fight for what felt like hours, during which Theo could feel the tense tolerance between them falling away and change into a more real friendship as they became more open with each other, before they fell spent on a bench in the garden next to each other, still gasping and breathless with laughter before they fell silent and a more comfortable silence returned. 

Liam didn’t know what it meant. Theo hadn’t hesitated to take his hand earlier, his disgusting hairy hand if you could even call it that which Liam hated so much, and even held onto it for a little bit to help him pet Philippe. Theo had laughed with him, been nice to him and talked to him, even when he shouldn’t. He could feel the atmosphere between them shifting, becoming more open with each other, even as Liam was so sure Theo should be the absolute last person that that should happen with. He wasn’t even really Liam’s friend for God’s sake, he’d taken him as a prisoner here! If something grew between them, and Liam got his hopes up, only for it to fall apart again after that and have nothing come from it, Liam would hate himself for that like never before. He’d hate himself for being so stupid, to believe that something could actually happen. 

But Theo… Theo with his stupid soft hands and his stupid mood lifting smiles and his stupid clear sparkling green eyes, he’d made Liam feel a little more alright again for the first time in years. A little more alright about himself again, as Theo looked at him as if he saw a person and not… This monster, which was Liam saw when he looked into the mirror and was the reason he avoided those now. Theo made him feel a little more alright in his own home again, as if he forgot it didn’t look the way it once used to and wasn’t inhabited by the same people anymore. 

Theo, who made him feel hopeful and like something could actually get out of this, as if Theo was the one who could reverse everything and break the spell. Even if Liam knew how dumb he was being, he forgot about that when he was in Theo’s company. Even if he never got out of this shape again, never got to be human again, if Theo could look at him as if he was a person, maybe Liam could learn to do that too eventually, and stop hating himself. He forgot he did when Theo was there. And out of all the company in the world, Theo was his favorite. Theo who made him laugh and smile again, made him feel happy and okay again and like he had no care in the world for just a moment, like he had a friend and could just sit back and relax and let himself be happy for only a moment. Liam knew he’d never really want anyone else’s company as long as he could have his, they all saw him as a monster anyway. Liam knew that, but he didn’t know what it meant. 

***** 

They warmed up again together after a second day spent in the snow, they’d fallen into a routine of sorts where they spent the day outside and went back to the art studio after dinner, sat in the cozy dining room with the fire on and a warm bowl of soup in front of them. Liam only hesitated for a moment before standing up and taking his soup with him, walking across the room to sit down at the side of the table closer to Theo, as he saw no point anymore in sitting on opposite sides of the table, where they couldn’t really talk. He got ready to slurp up his soup again, when a sudden thought hit him and he froze. 

Theo saw him stopping, only raising his eyebrows a little bit before he paused too and placed his spoon on the side of his plate. He picked up the bowl of soup and brought it to his mouth, taking a sip. 

A warm feeling spread through Liam’s chest, one that he didn’t even think of trying to chase away this time, at Theo finding a compromise for the way they both ate, and he picked up his bowl as well, following Theo’s lead with a small smile on his face. 

Theo nodded, finishing their dinner with soft talk about what they had done that day and what they should do the next, before finishing up and spending a bit more time in the art studio together. Theo sat in his usual chair in the corner, continuing his drawing of the studio and focusing on the little figure of Liam in the corner, which he had erased and made bigger after that, highlighting it and brighter than the rest of the things in the room, as it was, after all, the most important one. 

‘Can I see it?’ Liam asked, looking up from where he was sitting in the other chair with a book on his lap. 

Theo looked up, smiling teasingly. ‘No. It’s a surprise.’ 

Liam frowned at that, going back to his reading, but Theo didn’t let it get to him. He was sure that Liam would like it anyway. 

After that, they both went back to their respective rooms, saying goodbye to each other for the night and going inside, getting ready for bed as quick as the other without even knowing it and crawling into bed at the same time, their heads hitting the pillow as they both fell into the first peaceful night of sleep ever since Theo had arrived at the castle. 

***** 

It was definitely new, Theo knew, as he looked through the windows in the art studio to where Liam was walking outside with Philippe, as if the horse and he had never been wary of each other in the first place. He’d never thought that this could be, this trust and openness that blossomed between them, where they could just sit in silence with each other for quite some time and enjoy each other’s company, or they could have the weirdest, long conversations with each other. Neither of them were afraid to be themselves around each other now, and that lead to getting to know each other in a different and better way, and a whole lot of sarcastic jokes. Theo was surprised to find how funny Liam could be, even if he always denied it himself. Theo wished he knew why. 

Liam also got more and more curious about the drawing of the art studio that Theo was making, his pout growing a little more every time Theo denied him of seeing it. He felt a little guilty but he knew that Liam would like the end result, and that alone was enough for Theo to have a proud smile form on his face and a warm feeling spread through his chest, feeling eager to finish it right away and show it to Liam, just to see his reaction. 

Theo focused on reality again then, narrowing his eyes and squinting when he didn’t see Liam outside anymore, but the answer to that came a few seconds later, when the doors of the art studio burst open and Liam stomped inside. 

‘Ah,’ he complained. ‘It’s so cold outside! Sometimes I wish she would have given us summer instead of winter. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but…’ 

Theo frowned at that, some part of that sentence confusing him. ‘Who?’ 

Immediately, Liam tensed, turning to him slowly with his jaw clenched and none of the traces of how carefree he was a moment ago to be seen. ‘No one.’ 

His voice came out low and growling and Theo swallowed, not liking that answer or that tone. It sounded too much like the Liam he got to know when he first came here, and so he resigned himself from asking further. All in favor to keep the happy atmosphere between them. 

‘Come on, let’s sit,’ he said instead. ‘I got Mrs. Potts to make us hot chocolate.’ 

Liam’s smile returned widely at that, nodding eagerly and almost like an excited puppy as he did what Theo said, and sat down. 

During their time together, with their cups of hot chocolate next to them and Theo’s sketchbook on his lap again, Theo studied Liam curiously. He couldn’t deny that something good was growing between them, he could feel it, and over the course of the last two days, he’d gotten into the weird habit of comparing Liam with Brett. He just couldn’t help it. True, Liam was no prince Charming, but he was everything that Brett wasn’t, and Theo wondered how he hadn’t seen it there before. 

Brett was cocky, overconfident and downright arrogant, under the illusion that everybody liked him and would always like him, from all the people in town that did, and how popular he was. He wasn’t smart, not like Liam anyway, couldn’t hold an interesting conversation, and was dreadfully dull on top of that. All he talked about, all he could talk about, were his work-outs and what he did to stay in shape, and how everybody always liked the way he looked, himself the most of all. He was conceited, and the biggest flirt in town. Theo knew they could never make each other happy. He could never be happy with him. 

But Liam… Liam was different. He understood, really understood Theo, they had things in common, they could talk about things, and they fit in with each other. Liam didn’t care that Theo was a bit of an outcast, because he was a bit of an outcast himself too. It wasn’t anything like the relationships Theo’d had with the people in town, Liam was different. It wasn’t simple, not now, but Liam didn’t remind him of his town at all, maybe in that way it was, and for now, Theo was happy with it. With him. Liam was almost everything Theo looked for in a person, even if that thought still scared him a little bit, made him uncertain. But he guessed he was starting to look past the beast, look past the exterior and look for the person underneath, see the person underneath. Theo looked at him as a friend, maybe a little something more growing, and Liam knew that too. 

The staff saw it too, every time they hung out together, in the art studio together, and Theo passed heavy things he needed from high shelves to Liam who could put them away for him, and they got a little look at them. 

They saw that something was there too, something different, and Theo couldn’t help but having overheard them when they said to wait a few days more, to see if something else changed. 

Theo couldn’t help but snicker a little at that, because he couldn’t help but feel that they were right. Something was definitely different, something was definitely there blooming in the air, he felt it, and he would shoot himself if he thought that Liam didn’t feel it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claude Hoin was a French artist from 1750 :)  
> Tell me what you think, comments make my day!


	5. Give Me Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer than the other ones... Sorry! I hope you still like it!  
> Fluff and angst!  
> Enjoy! :)

# Theo found Liam outside, on a bench in the garden. He wondered quietly what the other was thinking of as he walked towards him, seeing how he sat slumped forward all alone and wondered if he was okay, before he noticed how Liam’s gaze was far away and how he stared straight ahead.

Theo sat down beside him. ‘What are you doing?’ he asked softly, his voice still sounding much too loud in the otherwise cool breeze of the frozen winter air.

‘Just, enjoying the view,’ Liam said quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper, as he didn’t look back at Theo. Theo wondered how long it had been since the last time Liam had done that, just sat back and enjoyed the view in his own backyard. If he had even wanted to, after… After this had happened to him, whatever it was. Theo remembered Liam mentioning a ‘she’, not wanting to specify what he meant by that, after that.

Theo swallowed, taking in a small breath as Liam looked at him for the first time since he sat down, and a serious look appeared on his face. He looked at Liam, in his eyes bravely as he said: ‘You know, I never thanked you, for saving my life.’

And when he thought about it, he really never it. But he supposed now was as good a time as any, as it really meant a lot to him. Liam easily could’ve let him get lost in the woods, not finding his way back home and getting attacked by wolves and never look back again, but he didn’t. Instead he risked his own life, just to keep Theo safe.

Liam’s eyes widened a bit at that, seeming a little surprised with the sudden comment. ‘Well…’ he started then. ‘I never thanked you… For not letting me be eaten by wolves.’

Liam wanted to say more. He wanted to say thanks, for making him feel at home in his own house again, for warming up the cold parts in his body again, for reminding him of what it was like to feel happy again, even for just a moment, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t get the words past his lips, as he simply didn’t know how to say them, and he knew that he had no right to expect that Theo felt the same way he did. Not after what he did to him, or his sister, and for the first time, Liam wondered what was gonna happen, what he was gonna do, with Theo, after the man had proven to be good and selfless, unlike him, and do anything for the people he cared about.

He’d made an impression on Liam the day he sacrificed himself, his own freedom, for his sister’s. Liam wondered if, one day, there was even the slightest chance he could be one of those people for Theo, and he wondered if it was fair to keep Theo here, trapped against his will. If he cared about him, he would let him go, he knew. But the thought of being in his castle without Theo there… Was more than a little bit terrifying to Liam. It was a selfish thought though, one that made him hate himself a little bit more than he already did, but he knew he wasn’t ready to let Theo go yet, not quite yet, and so he didn’t bring the subject up. Even if it made him feel nauseous with guilt.

Loud cheering coming from outside the castle, like someone was throwing a party, and Theo’s soft laughter in response at it, interrupted his thoughts and made him look up, from Theo towards the castle.

‘They know how to have a good time,’ Theo explained softly, nodding towards the castle as he referred to the staff.

‘Hmm, yeah, but laughter always dies when I enter the room,’ Liam replied quietly, sadly, feeling a sting in his chest and he shuddered at the thought of how no one ever seemed to want him around. Of how everyone always acted stiff and uncomfortable and… Scared, when he was around.

‘Hm, me too,’ Theo nodded, and Liam looked over at him in surprise.

He hadn’t expected that comment to come from someone like Theo, or from him at all, when he was the kind of person whose presence was enough to light up the room, who could make you forget all about your troubles with his eyes that sparkled like the stars, and whose warm, soft hands could make you never want to let go again. He wondered how someone like Theo could ever feel like they didn’t belong in a crowd.

‘My family was always a little different from the rest of the people in the village,’ Theo explained quietly, before Liam could ask. ‘We don’t care about the same things they do, like my sister loves to experiment with things to make life easier, like a helping hand with doing the laundry for example. But I know they judge us for that and talk about us behind our backs. We don’t really fit in, I’ve learned to live with it.’

Liam frowned at that, not liking the sound of that. Theo should’ve been happy in some place at least, if he couldn’t be happy here. ‘Your village sounds terrible,’ he said, trying to steer the conversation away from too heavy topics, and the little laugh that Theo let out sounded like music to his ears, making his heart beat a little faster and a slight smile pulled at the corner of his lips.

‘Almost as lonely as your castle,’ Theo nodded with a small smile, and Liam’s heart stung at the thought of Theo feeling lonely, here or anywhere else. He couldn’t deny that he knew what Theo meant though, as he thought that maybe lonely was the best way to describe his castle, and the way he’d been feeling all these years.

‘It’d be easy if we could just run away together,’ he said then, with a slight laugh to make it sound like a joke to check Theo’s reaction, even though he couldn’t deny that building a life with Theo somewhere private, where no one could find them, sounded so great to him. They couldn’t though, he knew he couldn’t keep Theo here forever, and the world had no place in it for a creature like him. It never would, he couldn’t show this face to other people.

‘Yeah,’ Theo chuckled then though, much to Liam’s surprise. ‘I’ve always wanted to travel, to see the world. Paris, maybe. It’d be nice to go together with someone.’

Liam stayed silent at that, nodding briefly, as his heartrate picked up at the implication of Theo’s words of them going together, and he imagined Theo in Paris. He would be happy there, hopefully meeting more people that were more like him. But visiting cities was one of the many things Liam couldn’t do anymore, and with a deep, pained, disappointed sigh, Liam forbad himself to dream. It would only hurt more in the end.

‘I was born there, you know?’ Theo said quietly. ‘Me and my sister, in Paris. I don’t remember any of it, I was still too young when… When we moved. My… My father died there, and after that, my mother took us somewhere else. I’d like to go back there sometime, see where I could’ve grown up.’

Liam’s heart ached at that, at hearing that Theo already lost one family member and the thought that he’d almost taken away another one, raw and real and honest regret piercing through him, and coursing through him. His hands itched to move them, place on top of Theo’s in hopes of comforting him, but he didn’t dare. He didn’t know how the man would take it, and if he wanted such a hairy, disgusting paw to hold his hand.

‘Come on,’ Theo sighed softly then, interrupting Liam’s thoughts, before standing up and holding out his hand. ‘Let’s go back to the art studio for a little bit, we can be alone there and it’ll be like we’re in another world for a bit.’

Surprised, Liam looked up, when Theo waited for him, and hesitantly he slipped his paw in Theo’s warm, soft hand. He winced as he looked at it, seeing how big and ugly it was, how disgusting, and how it was so much bigger than Theo’s hand that it barely fit into it. Why Theo wasn’t as disgusted by it as he was, was beyond him.

Theo lead them through the corridors to the art studio, past all the other rooms in the castle, including the one that they had moved the rose to, to keep a better eye on it now that Theo had all seen it anyway, and Theo looked at it. The same question that he’d had all along, about what role the rose played in all this and what that had to do with it all, popped up in his head again, and as they’d walked into the art studio and both sat down comfortably in their respective chairs, he swallowed and worked up the courage to ask about it, bravely doing so.

‘Can I ask you something?’ he said.

Liam looked up, quietly nodding. ‘Of course,’ he said, his voice soft.

‘What happens when the last petal falls?’

It was no question to Liam what Theo was talking about, as he referred to the rose, and he fell silent, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he closed the book that he was reading on his lap. He knew it was coming, at some point. It was unavoidable.

‘When it falls… I remain a beast forever,’ he said, the words foreign and bitter on his tongue, the explanation making him feel absolutely sick to his stomach, like he had never felt before. Deep down, he’d always known the consequences of the rose, but this was the very first time he spoke them out loud. He wished he never had to, but from what he had seen, Theo had always been honest with him, and he was just impossible to say no to, and do the same thing with him.

Theo stayed silent for a moment, before leaning forward slightly with a sympathetic, understanding look on his face, and asked softly: ‘Is that why this happened to them as well?’ referring to the staff. ‘Is it all about the same thing?’

Liam took a deep breath, forcing himself to swallow down the bitter taste in his mouth and the bile rising in his throat, and he saw a concerned look appearing on Theo’s face when he saw how it affected Liam. Liam’s heart skipped a beat the realization and Theo opened his mouth to take the question back, ready to forget he ever asked it, but Liam cut it off, ready to be honest with Theo now too. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Yeah, we’re all victims of the same cruel punishment,’ he said, and he winced. ‘Though the difference is that… They don’t deserve it, and… And I do.’

Liam swallowed at that and Theo felt a concerned look settling on his face, ready to reach out his hand. ‘I’m sure that’s not true,’ he said quietly and Liam’s head snapped up at that, the surprise at the comment clear on his face.

‘My father was never a great father,’ Liam said quietly. ‘I took over his habits, I was still young, I thought he knew what was best for me. I’m sure Mrs. Potts already told you something.’

Theo nodded slowly, it didn’t surprise Liam, and he smiled bitterly.

‘Not the details, though,’ Theo said quietly then, and Liam wondered how Theo could possibly still be trying to comfort him, his heart skipping a beat. Not that he minded though, as the witch had taught him, he was selfish enough for that.

‘An enchantress…’ Liam managed then, swallowing the bitter taste in his mouth. ‘An enchantress thought I needed a lesson, in how not to judge people by the way they look,’ he said bitterly, as the frustration and the rage from that night crashed around him again. ‘She thought making me look like the most disgusting monster would help with that.’

Theo stayed silent at that for a moment, letting the information sink in slowly as it was the last bit he still needed to complete the puzzle, before he looked up. ‘So… It is a curse then,’ he said quietly.

Liam stayed silent, which Theo took as the yes that it was, and he sighed, a determined look on his face as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. ‘So, how do we break it then?’ he asked.

Liam’s head snapped up at that, the shock at the question clear on his face and a small feeling of hope washing over him, before he reminded himself that he could never have this, and shook his head in defeat. ‘No,’ he said tiredly, the loneliness he’d felt all these years returning to him tenfold. ‘No, Theo, that’s not for you to worry about.’

He was sure that if he told Theo the way to break the curse, the man would laugh in his face. There was no way he could ever care enough to help with that.

‘I want to help you!’ Theo snapped defensively at that, and Liam froze, his head snapping up and looking over at Theo, the shock at the comment clear on his face as he realized that Theo was serious. Liam didn’t understand why. Why would he, of all people, want to help him?

‘Theo,’ he said weakly, his chest still burning with the small amount of painful hope that maybe, just maybe, he could get out of his situation with Theo’s help. But Liam wouldn’t let himself have it. He looked like this because he deserved it, and he couldn’t afford to get his hopes up. It would only shatter his heart in the end, and hurt more than he ever felt before. He couldn’t ask something like that from Theo, not with the way he knew the curse worked where he had to learn to love someone else and earn their love in return, it wasn’t fair to expect that from the other man. It was too much to ask of him.

‘It’s complicated,’ he said then, his voice flat.

Theo frowned at that, the determination still clear on his face that told Liam that he wouldn’t let this go just yet, that he hadn’t heard the end of it yet, but then his face relaxed and he let out a sigh. ‘Fine. But Liam?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Just so you know,’ Theo said softly, ‘I don’t think you needed any punishment. If I know you a little bit, if I know you at all, I don’t think you deserved it.’

Theo meant what he said, he felt like he knew Liam pretty well by now, and he concluded a day ago already that Liam was good, that he had most things Theo wanted and looked for. He thought that maybe, just maybe, if the circumstances were different and he had his freedom back, he could be happy here, in this castle. He’d be here by his own free will, with Liam. But deep down, he knew nothing could happen between them as long as they weren’t equals, not really, as long as he was technically still Liam’s prisoner, even as he had started to accept his feelings for the other man slowly since he first acknowledged them, and could and wanted to allow only a little bit to happen between them already.

Liam stayed silent at the comment, tears and shock burning behind his eyes, and Theo would probably never know how much that comment meant to Liam. The urge to let Theo go, to set him free and let him be happy somewhere else, grew stronger, even if Liam knew that realistically, Theo was his only shot at breaking the curse. With that, the selfish urge to keep him here grew too, even if he would never tell him the truth about it. Liam didn’t want to think about what would happen to him if Theo were to go, didn’t want to think about how he’d stay behind in his castle alone and terrified, now that he’d had a taste of what could be.

‘Hey,’ he said then, pushing the earlier thoughts away bitterly. ‘Why don’t we do something tonight? Together, the two of us, to relax?’

Theo stayed silent for a moment and Liam swallowed, he knew that the conversation had come to an earlier end than Theo would’ve liked, but then he smiled softly, and nodded. ‘Sounds good to me,’ he said, and gave Liam the warmest feeling in the world all over with those words, and with that smile.

*****

‘I shouldn’t have asked him this,’ Liam growled, as he sat in front of the mirror in his room to get ready for the night. ‘It was stupid to do.’

The staff hopped around him, and around the table, to work together to try and make him look as nice as they possibly could. Liam wondered how much that could even be when he looked like a monster as… As disgusting as this. He avoided his gaze in the mirror.

‘No, not stupid,’ Lumière said, ever the optimist, and the hopeless romantic. ‘Romantic.’

Liam rolled his eyes at the word, still apprehensive of it even though he knew deep down he was just nervous, afraid to do anything wrong. ‘It was just…’ he started, trying to explain it, before he fell silent, not bothering with it, as he felt more shy and clumsy than ever before when it came to these kind of things. He didn’t know anything about love or romance, not in the slightest, this was the first time he’d ever come even remotely close to it. He didn’t know if he and Theo were even at that level yet, didn’t know if that was even possible and Theo would ever feel the same way. But he did know that Theo just sat there, looking all beautiful and breathtaking, and taking Liam’s breath away indeed, and suddenly Liam couldn’t just stay silent any longer.

‘Time is running out, master,’ Cogsworth said sadly. ‘Something needs to happen.’

‘I know,’ Liam roared, taking it out on the staff as they reminded him that another rose petal had fallen off the flower, the thought that it had making him feel utterly terrified, because time really was running out. And what if things with Theo weren’t as good as he thought, and he’d been reading the signals completely wrong? This was his last, and only chance.

The thought of remaining a beast forever made him absolutely sick to his stomach, made him want to throw up and hide under his bedcovers forever until someone woke him up and told him that it had all been a bad dream. But he knew that could never happen. Time was running out for him, and if Liam wanted to take the only chance he possibly had to get out of this, he had to do it now.

‘You have done well,’ Mrs. Potts said reassuringly then, having noticed his inner turmoil. ‘You’re doing the right thing,’ she said and Liam took a deep breath, trying to convince himself that indeed, he was.

Lumière and Cogsworth continued then, helping Liam to dress up and make him look nice with his hair and his clothes for the night that was planned, giving him nice clothes, to make him look the best they possibly could.

In the other room, Theo was standing by the door, carefully brushing over his clothes that he’d chosen from the wardrobe and looking down once more to check if they were good enough, as he waited until he got a sign that he could come out.

A soft knock on the door made him look up then, and as he opened it Mrs. Potts came in slowly on the little cart she was standing on, looking at him. ‘Are you coming?’ she asked. ‘He’s ready. And everything downstairs is prepared.’

Theo nodded, smiling, the curiosity burning under his skin as he wondered what Liam would look like, as he followed Mrs. Potts down the stairs with his heart beating a little faster than usual.

He met Liam halfway down the stairs, waiting for him and looking nervous, but Theo smiled. ‘You look nice,’ he said, complimenting Liam with his cheeks a little hot, as he looked at Liam’s blue blazer with the silver pattern, a fancy-looking jacket fit for a prince living in a castle like this. And it was true, Liam really did look nice, if you ignored the obvious little problem that was there. Since getting to know him though, Theo had learnt not to look at that, he knew the person underneath, knew what Liam was really like.

‘You too,’ Liam responded quietly then, shyly, as he looked over at him and Theo could hear the nervousness clear in his voice. He chuckled, looking down at the light beige blazer and matching pants he was wearing, that he’d chosen from the wardrobe himself. ‘Thank you,’ he grinned, before nodding down the stairs in a silent question if they should go, determined to spend the night basking in the feelings he had for Liam and he thought Liam returned for him, to just have it be them, together for the night, and not think about anything else for a while. Just them, relaxed and making jokes like they had done so far, no pressure, no obligations, and no need at all to be nervous.

Liam nodded. ‘Yes, let’s go,’ he mumbled once Theo had looked at him reassuringly, before they walked down the stairs and to the dining room together, where everything had been set out ready for them already.

The tables had been pushed to the sides, leaving the space in the middle big and open and empty, with a large blanket on the floor with all kinds of food on it, small snacks and fruit and sandwiches, and Theo thought that the kitchen staff had worked hard and really outdone themselves. The large doors to the garden were pushed open, leaving a cool, soft breeze to come in, and it left the great view of the clear night with all its bright shining stars in the night sky perfectly visible.

Theo thought it looked absolutely perfect, his stomach fluttering at the sight as all the butterflies flew wild, and with a smile, he looked over at Liam. ‘Shall we…?’ he started, as he made move to sit down on the blanket. ‘Yeah,’ Liam replied softly, still nervous but less than a moment ago, as he sat down next to Theo. Theo chuckled softly, as just like before he thought that it was just them and there was no need to be nervous, and he took a look at the food.

‘This all looks great,’ he said with a smile. ‘We should be sure to thank the kitchen staff later,’ as Liam nodded. ‘What do you want first?’

‘Hmm,’ Liam grinned, a warm feeling enveloping him and coursing through him that didn’t just come from the fire. If only Theo knew how happy he was to be here with him… Thoughts of the curse, and what to do, and what was fair or selfish and what wasn’t, pushed to the back of his mind. ‘The people in the kitchen have this great specialty with sandwiches with cucumber and tomato, they always taste great. I should have one of those.’

Theo smiled, taking one of those for himself if Liam said they were good, a warm feeling spreading through his chest as he looked at him. Liam had a few little breadcrumbs stuck to the side of his mouth, that Theo imagined, under different circumstances, would’ve looked cute.

Slowly, he nodded towards Liam’s mouth. ‘You have a little something… There,’ he chuckled shyly. ‘Come here,’ he said, his cheeks burning slightly as he held out a napkin and brushed the breadcrumbs off Liam’s face, his hands trembling just a little, as his gaze caught Liam’s and he stared into his ocean blue eyes a little longer than he felt normal, his heart racing in his chest, as he swallowed and wondered if they were the only thing about Liam that were still left unaffected by the curse.

‘Thank you,’ Liam whispered then, his face still close to Theo’s, before he leaned back slowly, calmly.

Theo nodded, his cheeks still burning, mumbling 'No problem,' before he looked away from him again with a little difficulty and back towards the beautiful starry night sky outside. An indoor picnic, with a view as great as this, was bound to feel like a date. Their first date. Theo didn’t know what it was, how else to describe it, or how to describe the atmosphere.

‘You must love it here,’ he said quietly then, staring ahead at the sky, as he took another bite from his sandwich.

‘Sometimes,’ Liam responded just as quietly, still loud enough for Theo to hear him in the otherwise silent room. He nodded slowly; he’d remembered their conversation from that morning where Liam had told him how lonely the castle could get, and felt the slight stab of regret in his chest for making that comment. He understood, in a castle that had been made dark and uninviting with some cruel spell, where the only other company was the furniture, and there were no other people around.

Suddenly, Theo wondered how long Liam had lived like this, how lonely he must’ve felt all this time, but he was too afraid to ask, not daring to disturb the good, peaceful mood between them. Theo knew that he wanted to return to his village, to see his mom and Tara, but even then he knew, that it wouldn’t be for long. He would come back for Liam. He’d always come back for him.

‘Can I ask you something?’ he asked then, breaking the peaceful silence between them when a thought hit him. They’d pulled open their first bottle to drink something, and had just each poured in a glass of the drink.

‘You just did,’ Liam grinned widely, teasingly, and Theo snorted. ‘Go ahead,’ Liam chuckled then.

Theo smiled, a full, warm, content feeling spreading in his chest at looking at Liam. ‘What’s your favorite room?’ he asked, unable to stop the smile from pulling at his lips constantly, even when his cheeks started to hurt. He just felt so happy right now, here, all the time. ‘Like in the whole castle, where do you prefer to go the most?’

‘The art studio,’ Liam replied immediately at that, without skipping a beat, as if he didn’t even have to think about it and was absolutely sure about that.

Theo stayed silent as Liam stared ahead, seemingly lost in thought and his eyes glazing over, as he continued to explain shortly. ‘I’ve always loved it there, spending time there. I used to paint there all the time, whatever I could think of, sometimes the view outside of the windows. That’s definitely my favorite room.’

Theo bit his lip, remaining silent and looking down at his lap for a moment, he’d picked up the sadness in Liam’s voice, before scooting closer to him.

‘Hey,’ he said quietly, placing his hand on top of Liam’s, and it seemed to startle him, making him jump a little as Theo’s voice pulled him out of the slight trance he seemed to be in. Theo smiled softly.

‘Why don’t you paint anymore?’ Theo asked quietly then, hoping he wasn’t overstepping any boundaries. ‘I haven’t seen you do that since I got here.’

Liam let out a chuckle at that, but it was a sad, broken, sound, and when Theo looked up, he saw the wetness in Liam’s eyes. His heart broke a little at the sight, and he scooted closer to him. ‘Oh no,’ he started. ‘No, Liam, I’m sorry, forget I asked…’ He didn’t mean to bring back any painful memories for the other, didn’t mean to make him sad.

‘I can’t anymore,’ Liam whispered then anyway, a noise that sounded like a sob and a laugh at the same time, as he didn’t listen to Theo and still chose to answer the question. Theo swallowed, a hurt feeling at the sound and seeing Liam like this aching in his chest.

‘I can’t hold a brush anymore, with these paws,’ Liam forced out brokenly then, sounding like a sob, and Theo’s heart broke a little at that, his own tears forming in his eyes. Because the thought that Liam couldn’t do what he loved anymore…

‘Oh no, come here,’ he mumbled quietly, shuffling closer to him and wrapping his arms around Liam in a hug, even though he was too big to fit his arms all the way behind Liam’s back.

Liam tensed, not having expected someone to touch him like that, but then he let out a sniffle and leaned into Theo’s touch, the constant, painful voice in the back of his mind still wondering how Theo wasn’t totally disgusted by him.

‘I’m sorry,’ Theo murmured. ‘I wish I could help.’ To him, it seemed like Liam had been through a lot of pain already, which surely explained something, and Theo really wished he could help more than this, but for now he'd have to do what he could. And if this could make things feel just a little bit lighter for Liam, then he'd gladly do so.

Liam’s heart soared at the words, a painful, yet hopeful feeling filling his chest at having someone comforting him like this for the first time in his life and he leaned back, blinking his tears away. ‘You know, I haven’t done this with anyone in years,’ he said, gesturing clumsily to the picnic around them. ‘Even before this…’ He gestured to himself hopelessly. ‘Even before this, I hadn’t really done something like this, just sit around with someone and… Have a nice time.’

It was true. Even someone comforting him the way Theo just had… Was all new to him. But Theo just smiled, the look of it warming Liam’s heart, and he grinned at him as he poured some more of the drink in his glass.

‘Well, you can now,’ he said, and the realization that he was right hit Liam hard. With wide eyes he looked at Theo, who ticked his glass against Liam with a cheers, and an unsure, wide smile formed on Liam’s face.

‘Hm, you know,’ Theo said then after he’d taken a sip, almost a bit like an afterthought, ‘I’ve got a surprise for you,’ and Liam’s head snapped over at him, his heart skipping a beat when he registered the words. ‘What?’

‘Yeah, uh…’ Theo chuckled nervously, as if he was afraid that Liam wouldn’t like it, which Liam knew was impossible coming from him anyway. He grabbed a sheet of paper, that he must’ve carefully torn out of the sketchbook, and took a nervous look at it before holding it out to Liam, showing it to him. 'Here, this is it.'

Carefully, Liam took it from him, making sure not to rip it, and brushed over it softly as he took a look at it.

It was a drawing, a sketch that had been colored in beautifully later, of the art studio, all the furniture and details and colors there captured perfectly, and there, in the corner, Liam saw himself. He seemed bigger and brighter than the rest of the things in the room, as if he was the thing that Theo had really focused on, and was important to him, and the tears sprung in his eyes at the realization. This really was the way Theo thought about him, wasn’t it? He really must care then, didn’t he?

Liam’s chest warmed at that, never having really felt it before or having had someone who cared about just the way Theo did, and he bit his lip to stop the tears from spilling over.

‘Do you… Do you like it?’ Theo asked quietly in a small voice next to him then, sounding more than a little bit nervous, and Liam realized that he hadn’t given him a direction yet.

With wet eyes, he looked up. ‘Theo, it’s… I love it,’ he started shakily, overwhelmed with the fact that Theo had actually done this for him. ‘It’s perfect.’ ‘Yeah?’ Theo asked, his voice sounding relieved and feeling like a weight had dropped off his shoulders at that, as he perked up again. ‘Okay, that’s… That’s good. I’ve worked on that for the last couple of days since I’ve been here.’ Liam stayed silent, looking at the drawing in his hands again and brushing over it as if he held pure gold in his hands, and a warm feeling coursed through him. He should save this somewhere special, he thought. He should keep it safe. 'Maybe... Maybe I'll frame it,' he laughed, shyly, to check Theo's reaction at the suggestion.

Theo blushed, looking down. 'Yeah... You could,' he chuckled, and Liam's heart raced. He placed the drawing down beside him, brushing over it once more, for safe keeping.

‘Do you… Do you want to get some fresh air?’ Theo asked then, interrupting his thoughts, and Liam looked up. Theo nodded towards the open doors, to the garden.

‘Yes,’ Liam breathed, and they stood up, strolling towards the doors and stepping outside.

A soft breeze blew past them there, through Theo’s hair and Liam’s fur, as they stepped onto the only little patch of grass in the garden where there was no snow, and Theo looked down with his eyebrows furrowed in surprise. Liam knew the reason though, a reason that lifted his hopes up, as there was something growing between them, something real. It wore off the curse, and Liam’s chest filled with warmth at the thought, a smile pulling at his lips.

Theo looked up then, a small smile on his face so soft and sweet and full of… something, that it made Liam’s heart race. ‘Dance with me,’ he said, softly and quietly and nervously, but his voice so full of that same raw something, that Liam could only say yes. ‘Okay.’

Theo nodded, turning towards him at that, and Liam swallowed, unsure of how to do this. Theo didn’t hesitate though, taking the lead, and slipped both of his hands in Liam’s paws. Liam’s head shot up, looking over at Theo with wide eyes, and Theo smiled reassuringly. He took a step closer to Liam until there was almost no more space left between them, and Liam swallowed, having to get used to this new, sudden development, and his hands itched to pull Theo closer.

‘There is no music,’ he said, awkwardly, and Theo grinned, looking up at him with big, beautiful green eyes that sparkled like the stars in the sky above their heads.

‘We don’t need it,’ he reassured softly, just as the living piano from inside the dining room started to play it's first notes. Theo chuckled at it, looking up at Liam with sparkling eyes, and lifted their hands together. He took the first step backwards, Liam following after by taking a step forward, almost instinctively, as it came naturally to him to follow Theo.

After the first few, awkward steps, the atmosphere improved and the dance came more naturally to them, as the steps started to flow and they didn’t need to look down anymore to see where whey should go and not step on each other’s feet anymore. It was like they just knew, and Liam knew that he had never danced like this before, with anyone, and he had never felt about anyone the way that he did Theo.

And when Theo stepped closer to him, pressing against him and resting his head against his chest, Liam couldn’t help the warm feeling that he got at that, the feeling like he was flying, living in a dream. Never, ever, had he thought, that they could get to the point where they were now. If he had ever had a chance in hell of breaking this spell, then he knew tonight was the closest he could ever even dream of getting to it.

And from the way Theo was still pressed up against his chest warmly, giving Liam the urge to simply wrap his arms around him and never let him go again, to simply hold onto him and hold him close forever, with his eyes closed in contentment, maybe he could help with that too.

‘You know,’ Theo sighed softly then, a little out of breath, his voice barely even audible. ‘I feel like my my mom and sister would like it here too, after all.’

And just like that, the amount of hope that had been building up inside Liam ever since the beginning of the evening was knocked out of him again, a sharp sting of pain in his chest, because of course Theo had other people that cared about him too, somewhere else, unlike him. And Liam couldn’t even begin to resent him for it, as it was only his own fault for getting his own hopes up; they were bound to be shattered again. After all, what right did a creature like him have to hope, to dream, to think that maybe, just maybe, someone could care about him enough to get him out of this misery. If anything, it was his own stupid fault for daring to dream, for daring to think that maybe, he could have something nice like this too.

‘I suppose it’s foolish…’ he started with a pained voice, as he took a little step back and pushed Theo away just a little so that the man had to look up at him with big, expectant eyes. ‘To hope that someone like you could care for a creature like me,’ he forced himself to say, no matter how it terrified him to speak his darkest thoughts out loud, to let Theo know what was keeping him busy. He’d never let anyone in like this, trusted someone like this and let them into the darkest thoughts inside his head.

‘I don’t know,’ Theo said then with a raw honesty in his voice, and immediately, a small flicker of hope that Liam had lost the moment before, returned to him, his heart beating fast. ‘Really?’ he asked, unable to keep that same raw hope from sounding through his voice. ‘You think you can be happy here?’

Something changed in Theo’s eyes at that, something regretful but honest as if he didn’t really want to say but knew that he had to, and he took a little step back, letting go of Liam’s hand. ‘Can anybody be happy if they aren’t free?’ he asked, his voice quiet and a little regretful.

Liam felt a sharp pang painfully in his chest at the words, but he knew that they needed to be heard, and that he finally understood what Theo had been feeling like all this time, and that was important. Neither of them could’ve stopped this friendship, this thing that was more than friendship, from growing between them, but Theo still felt like a prisoner. Liam got why. He wasn’t allowed to leave, and when they met, Liam had given him the choice to switch his freedom for his sister’s, or go.

But the thing, though, was that Liam didn’t want Theo to feel like a prisoner. Not here, not anymore. If Theo was going to be with him, Liam wanted him to be able to do so out of his own free will, not force him to be here. He wanted them to be equals, otherwise it would just leave him feeling incredibly guilty. And if it turned out that Theo didn’t want to be here, and wanted to go, then that was okay too, and Liam would let him go, even if the thought what that would mean for him made him feel absolutely sick to his stomach.

If he cared about him, he would let him go. Selfishness be damned.

‘You must miss your mom and sister a lot,’ Liam said quietly as he turned to the cement railing and put his hands on it, glancing briefly towards the side as Theo came to stand beside him.

‘A lot, yeah,’ he whispered. ‘I’m sorry I ever called your sister a thief,’ Liam swallowed, turning towards him. And it was true, he meant it, he was sorry. Thinking back on how quick he was to judge, how easily outraged he was, it made him want to laugh. It was ridiculous.

‘Would you like to see them?’ he asked.

Theo’s head shot up at that. ‘What?’

Liam chuckled. ‘I’ve got this… This thing, hang on.’ Quickly, he disappeared inside, retrieving the thing he was talking about and returned to Theo to show him the mirror that the witch had left behind for him. ‘It’s a… Well, it’s a mirror that allows you see anything you want to see,’ he explained nervously, his heart beating fast in his chest. ‘Just think about what you wish to see most, and it will show you.’

‘How amazing!’ Theo said in awe, shooting Liam a wondrous look that he basked in, before turning away from him a little. ‘I wish to see my family.’

Liam stayed silent, quietly watching the side of Theo’s face as his eyes lit up, making Liam’s stomach flutter, and a small, happy smile appeared on his face. ‘Oh, that’s my sister, look,’ Theo breathed, urging Liam to come closer, holding out his hand. ‘And my mom, come see,’ he murmured as Liam took a step closer, at the dark-haired woman and the red-haired girl he had seen once before.

‘But…’ Theo started then, the smile gone from his face and a frown forming on it instead. ‘What are they doing to them? My sister, my mom, they’re in trouble!’

Shocked, with his jaw dropped, he looked up at Liam, his panic sounding clear through his voice. Liam stared down in the mirror, watching for one more moment as a crowd of people seemed to have taken the other two members in Theo’s family, holding them even as they struggled wildly to get free, the same way Tara had done when Liam had dragged her down the stairs, and threw the two women in a carriage.

‘Liam…!’ Theo started panicked, the feeling clear on his face as he seemed ready to start begging Liam to let him go, to let him go to them.

 _But he shouldn’t even have to beg, should he?_ Liam thought.

There was a small voice in the back of his mind that said: _You don’t have to let him go, this is not your problem, Theo is yours now and you need his help._

Another, stronger thought, though, said that it was that selfishness that had gotten him into this trouble in the first place, it said that there were other people that needed Theo’s help now too, and the only right thing to do would be to let him go now, as Liam had learned all since getting to know Theo. Besides, the curse wouldn’t be broken anyway as he kept Theo here against his own will. That was not the way that it worked.

It seemed that Liam had no other choice here, but to let Theo go back to his village, as another thought from earlier returned to him. _If you care about him, you let him go._

‘Then, you must go to them,’ he said lowly, seriously, before looking over at Theo.

Something changed on his face at that, something that went from panic to an immense amount of relief and gratitude. ‘Really?’ he asked, his voice coming out as a breath as he took a step back, and Liam nodded.

A serious look formed on Theo’s face then, nothing else but complete and utter gratefulness to be seen in his beautiful green eyes. ‘Thank you,’ was the last thing he uttered before he turned and ran, taking the mirror with him, as he could have it for all Liam cared. The stupid thing had only ever caused him trouble anyway. His loud footsteps on the tiles of the dining room were the last thing that Liam heard and still ringing in his ears as he disappeared out of sight.

Liam slumped forward then, his legs wobbly beneath him as he looked for support by the cement railing, and his heart broke in his chest, tears stinging in his eyes as the thought that he would remain a beast forever now, that he would look like this forever, was the only thing ringing in his head, shutting out all other noise from the outside world. He was trapped in his own mind, his own cursed mind with poisoned thoughts, that were only cut off by one small, high-pitched voice cutting through the rest of the loud noise in his mind, making him aware of the painful sting of tears burning in his eyes, threatening to spill over at any given moment and blurring his vision.

Cogsworth.

‘Well, master,’ he said. ‘I think it’s safe to say that tonight was a great success. I must confess, I had my doubts about this, but I must say that you’ve both really outdone yourselves. If this doesn’t lift the curse, then I don’t know what…’

‘I let him go,’ Liam mumbled, the words burning painfully in his throat, as a single tears finally spilled and rolled down his cheek. His chest was burning, like something had come and torn his heart in two.

‘You… What?’ Cogsworth said behind, disbelief and panic already clear in his voice as he got ready to scold Liam. ‘How could you do that!?’

Liam knew why, as he slumped forward over the cement railing. He’d known for a couple days already. It was the one thing that could break the curse, and make him human again. Make him feel like a person again, normal and human, and chase away all his demons. But what was the point in confessing now? Now that Theo wasn’t here anymore to hear it, and possibly even say them back.

Still, it was too late now, and the words burned in Liam’s throat, begging to be said, begging to be set free. And maybe, just maybe, Liam could try them on for size now, in case there was even the slightest chance that maybe someday, fate was on his side and he would see Theo again. He sniffled, looking over his shoulder as the rest of the tears spilled over and streamed down his face, not caring that Cogsworth saw. ‘Because…’ he started, the words foreign on his tongue, but somehow still sounding right, so right, as they were more true than any other words he’d ever spoken in his whole life. ‘Because, I love him.’

And with that, he felt another petal falling from the rose, one of the last if the cracking of stone in the castle was anything to go by, and far away, in the distance, he could still hear the fast sound of the hooves from Philippe, thumping away on the forest floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Tell me what you think :)


	6. Transformations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter!! :)  
> Slight warning for this: there will be character death in this. So that's something to keep in mind.  
> I hope you'll still enjoy it! :)

# The hooves of Philippe made a thundering sound on the dirty forest floor as he ran fast, the sound still ringing in Theo’s ears, as he steered the horse through the woods hastily, and back into the village. When he did, he could already see the commotion there, from afar.

It was Brett, he saw, standing at the front of the group with Nolan next to him and riling everybody up as he signed to the driver of the carriage that he could go, taking his mom and Tara away, and Theo couldn’t help but roll his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips.

Because of course it was Brett. What else should he have expected from him?

‘Stop!’ he screamed, making the villagers snap their heads around to him as he wildly put Philippe to a stop at the side of the carriage. With his feet thumping on the ground, he jumped off, and ran towards it. He had no idea where Brett had decided to send them off to, but he knew that he couldn’t let it happen.

Hastily, he made his way to the front of the carriage faster than his feet could even manage, and jumped on it, fumbling with the lock already. ‘Tara, mom!’

‘Theo, you came back!’ his sister’s voice sounded with a slight sniffle, from where she was sitting with her face behind the bars, her hands wrapped around them.

It reminded Theo of when he found her in the highest tower in Liam’s castle, though this time he doubted she’d be let go so easily. This time, she really was held by a monster.

‘You have to let them out!’ he snarled, his attention directed towards Brett. He knew that if Brett was really sending them away, to God knows where, it was to something dangerous, and he had to stop him. His sister was tough, but not that tough. They wouldn’t last a week in there.

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t do that,’ Brett said with a cocky, innocent grin on his face, that Theo’s hands suddenly itched to punch. He swallowed, his anger flaring up in his stomach as he felt like Brett’s behavior really rubbed him the wrong way right now.

‘Your sister’s been making some unbelievable claims,’ Brett continued, and not for the first time since being held up in the castle, Theo nervously wondered what had happened to her and where she had been after she had gone. Would she have been alright? he thought while squeezing his hands together anxiously.

‘It’s true, Theo,’ Nolan agreed then. ‘She came back here, talking about a beast, in a castle,’ he said and Theo let out a breath, a wave of annoyance that Nolan was so weak that he went wherever Brett went and didn’t seem to be able to form opinions of his own or stand up for himself washing over him. With a tired sigh, he turned towards the villagers, clenching his hands into fists determinedly.

‘I’ve just come from the castle,’ he said. ‘And there is a beast!’

The word left a bitter taste on his tongue, feeling wrong to talk about Liam that way. Theo knew what he was like, and how wonderful he truly was. He wasn’t the monster here, but someone else clearly was.

Brett let out a laugh, a sound like he pitied Theo and what he said was dumb anyway, and Theo sucked in a sharp breath at it, his anger flaring up in his stomach again. ‘You’d say anything to set them free,’ he said, gesturing to the carriage where his mom and Tara were following the conversation with desperate looks on their faces. Theo swallowed, wondering nervously if he would actually succeed to get them out. It was his word against Brett’s, and he knew that where he was an outcast in this village, Brett and his opinion were loved and valued. Would he even stand a chance? ‘Your word is hardly proof!’ Brett shouted, just like Theo was afraid of.

That sparked Theo’s interest though, his head snapping up towards Brett. ‘You want proof?’ he growled, still feeling the mirror clenched tightly in his hand. ‘Here’s your proof!’

He looked towards the mirror, taking in a breath as he said: ‘Show me the beast.’

Theo watched as the reflection in the mirror changed, from his to Liam’s, and determinedly, to get his mom and sister out, he held up the mirror to show it to the villagers. ‘There!’ he snarled, watching as the crowd let out startled gasps and seemed to flinch, step backwards, at the sight in shock. ‘There’s your proof!’

Brett frowned, taking a look at the mirror and the reflection inside of it, and grabbed it out Theo’s hand forcefully, sending him a concerned look. ‘That’s not possible…’ he mumbled, and Theo opened his mouth, ready to say that it was and demand him to let his mom and sister out. Before he got the chance though, Brett had turned around, holding up the mirror for the villagers to see clearly.

‘Look at this beast!’ he exclaimed, a wicked grin appearing on his face already as if he enjoyed showing how much power he held over the villagers, and scaring them already. ‘Look at his fangs!’ He grinned as the crowd gasped at the sight, and flinched backwards. ‘See those claws!’

Theo swallowed, watching in terror at what was happening right before him, a nauseous feeling rising in his stomach. He felt like he should’ve known this was gonna happen, that this was how they were gonna react, but he’d been so caught up in getting his mom and Tara out of that carriage, that he hadn’t thought about anything else. But now… Now it seemed like he was just trading the safety and freedom of two people he cared about for that of another one, and either way, somebody would end up getting hurt. He had to do something.

‘Don’t be afraid,’ he tried, desperately, to convince them that Liam really was nothing to be afraid of. ‘You don’t have to be scared of him, he’s nice!’

Brett turned around to him slowly, his eyebrows raised, and a horribly concerned, disgusted look on his face. ‘Look what the beast has done to him,’ he said lowly, almost threatening, to inflict more fear on the villagers standing around them. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d say Theo even cared for him!’

Theo clenched his jaw, grabbing for the mirror in Brett’s hand wildly and he looked up at Brett with his breath coming out rapidly when he pulled it back, his stomach burning dangerously. ‘He’s not a monster, Brett,’ he growled. ‘You are!’

Brett’s eyes darkened at that, his jaw clenched at hearing what Theo really thought of him, and his chest rose and fell quickly. ‘The beast… Has gotten under his skin,’ he said quietly, dangerously, before turning to the crowd again and swinging the mirror around wildly. ‘This is a threat to our very existence! We have to do something!’

Theo watched with tears in his eyes as the crowd sided with Brett, agreeing with him, and a wave of anger and desperation washed over him, wondering and trying to figure out what they were gonna do, and what was gonna happen to Liam. _His Liam,_ he realized, as the acceptance of his feelings for him finally crashed around him in full force.

‘Lock him up too!’ Brett’s voice brought him back to reality then and Theo froze, as the words got through to him, a lump forming in his throat and his anger burning in his stomach as two guys bigger than grabbed him and held him by his upper arms tightly.

‘No!’ he snarled, kicking around him and struggling to break free to try and get to Brett, but the man watched with dark eyes and his hand clenched around the mirror so tight that his knuckles turned white as Theo was thrown into the carriage with his mom and sister. He kicked against the door, hard, trying to jump out again before the door was thrown shut in his face. ‘You’re not gonna get away with this, Brett!’ he screamed, as outside he heard Brett’s voice riling up the crowd again.

‘This is our chance, with him out of the way to warn the beast! Well, I say we kill the beast!’

Theo froze upon hearing that and let out a breath, bile rising in his throat at the words, and he squeezed his hands around the bars tightly. A hopeless feeling washed over him, his stomach sinking, feeling sick to his stomach at Brett’s words, and tears stung in his eyes as the slumped forward against the door.

There was nothing he could do, he knew, when he already heard the sound of swords clashing against each other, determined screaming and other weapons being retrieved outside of the carriage. He could do nothing to change Brett’s mind now and nothing to save Liam either as long as he was locked in here, and he swallowed at the thought of something happening to him, of him getting hurt and not being able to do anything… He didn’t want to think about it.

‘Theo…’ his sister’s voice sounded behind him then, and Theo jumped, as if he only just now remembered what he had come back for and who were in the carriage with him, before he turned around.

He jumped when Tara gave him a push, falling back against the side of the wooden carriage. ‘You idiot!’ she exclaimed. ‘You traded my freedom for yours, and you just expect me to be okay with that!?’

Theo swallowed, shaking his head with tears in his eyes. Of course he should’ve known that Tara was gonna react like this, his happiness at seeing her and his mom again was mixed with the hopeless desperation for Liam, as he was all that he could really think about. ‘I did what I had to,’ he mumbled with a shaky voice. ‘I’m sorry.’

He wasn’t sorry for saving her life. At the very most, he was sorry for the way that he’d done it.

Tara seemed to know that too, she stayed silent, and leaned forward to pull Theo into a hug. ‘Theo?’ she asked. ‘What’s going on?’ And Theo shook his head, wiping at his eyes.

‘Liam,’ he mumbled, and saw out of the corner of his eye how Tara and his mom exchanged a worried look, a nauseous feeling settling in his stomach upon hearing how Brett got everyone in the village ready outside to go out and ride to the castle.

‘Liam?’ Tara asked, swallowing. ‘I… I don’t understand.’

‘He let me go,’ Theo mumbled, fumbling with his hands as he looked up at her. ‘He’s… Not like we thought, different. We have to help him.’

Tara stayed silent for a moment, exchanging a look with her mom, before looking back to Theo. The loud, unmistakable sound of horse hooves on the forest floor, people with pitchforks and torches and God knows what kind of other weapons, all riding out of the village towards the castle, reached their ears then, and Theo swallowed, anxiously at the thought of what that might mean.

‘Okay,’ Tara said then determinedly, crossing her arms and leaning back. ‘Okay, if you say that he is, then I believe you. I’ll help you.’

Theo looked up, disbelieving. ‘Really?’ he asked quietly, unsure, and Tara smiled softly. ‘Yeah, really,’ she said, and for a moment, Theo wondered how they were possibly supposed to outrun the crowd and get to the castle before they did, while they were still locked in the carriage. The sound of the last of the horses leaving the village disappeared then, the echo of the hooves of the horses fading between the trees, and Theo bit his lip nervously. They were alone now, save from one guy guarding their carriage. Escaping was easier now, but they had to be fast. Theo fumbled with his hands through the bars, trying to reach the lock, but panic washed over him as he realized that he couldn’t. He sucked in a sharp breath, but Tara came to sit beside him with a determined look on her face. And as she pushed him aside a little, to be able to reach the lock better, Theo watched in awe, and thought that she had a solution for pretty much anything.

*****

Liam slumped forward by the rose, his clawed hand resting on the glass jar as he watched another petal fall off, and he felt a piece of his heart breaking off. On the other side of the jar lay Theo’s drawing for him, the paper spread out all smooth, and Liam softly brushed over it, and a bittersweet feeling washing over him as it was the only piece of Theo he had left.

Tears stung in his eyes, blurring his vision, as the recent memories played in his head like a film. _Laughing with Theo, smiling with Theo, drinking hot chocolate with him in the art studio, outside in the snow together, Theo’s soft hands carefully brushing over Liam’s hairy skin as he cleaned his wounds, Theo’s green eyes sparkling as he wiped breadcrumbs off Liam’s chin after their indoor picnic, or stood pressed close against him as he insisted on dancing with him…_

Liam sniffled, thinking about everything that had changed for him and everything that Theo taught him since he had come here. How to be happy, how to feel at home again… How to feel good in his own skin again, even when he looked like this…

He sniffled, looking down at the drawing again that he cherished so. How Theo had come to mean so much to him in such a short amount of time he didn’t know, but God, he was a mess right now, it was just embarrassing. Would he ever even see Theo again? Would he ever even come back? Was there ever just a slight chance that… That he would?

‘He might still come back,’ Lumière said behind him then to reassure him, and Liam flinched, startled at the sudden sound.

He looked over his shoulder, shaking his head with small tears shining in the corners of his eyes. ‘No…’ he mumbled. ‘I set him free.’

It was true, he did. He didn’t expect Theo to come back for him, knowing that the time Theo spent with him was just because he was stuck and Liam wouldn’t let him leave. Now he was free, and it made sense for Theo to be happy with his family, to live his life fully and to go places, see something of the world like he wanted. He had no reason to come back to Liam, and Liam… Well, he had learned his lesson, and was now forced to live out the rest of his life as a beast, with the memory of something that he could have never had still clear in his mind, the hope that things could change after all taken away from harshly. Why the universe was cruel enough to give him a taste of something he could never though, give him hope only to know that it would be taken away again right from the beginning, he didn’t know. He guessed he deserved it. But he would cherish those memories, with Theo, hold them close and think about them when times got too dark again. Whatever happened, on the off chance that Theo would come back for him again, Liam would be here waiting, with his door wide open for him.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t the same for all of you,’ he said looking over his shoulder, to where Lumière, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and her son Chip were still standing behind him. And he was sorry, the regret of not being able to give them their lives back stinging in his chest. They didn’t deserve this, they had always been nothing but good to him unlike his father, he saw that clearly now, and they were just victims here. He deserved this, but they didn’t.

‘Now go,’ he said, the looks on their faces turning sympathetic as they understood that he wanted to be alone. Liam’s chest stung, as he realized that even now, they were good to him. ‘Our time is almost passed,’ he said as the fear of what that meant crashed around him, and Lumière nodded. He gestured at the others to go, turning away, and Liam swallowed. They just wanted to be together now, he understood, before turning into lightly used houseware forever, and Liam wouldn’t even have them anymore.

He’d be all alone. Just like he wanted to be now, to force himself to get used to the thought. To his unavoidable future.

When it turned quiet behind him he directed his gaze at the rose again, his chest aching at the sight, and thoughts of Theo popped up into his head again. He was the one who had it all, once, and now he lost everything. But no matter what happened, no matter how dark and cold and lonely things got, he would cherish those thoughts of Theo and the things he’d shown him, hold them close, to always think of those and let them be the light in those dark times. He wouldn’t forget what Theo had taught him, he wouldn’t forget him and how he needed him in his life, and the hope that the man had given him. No matter what happened, on the one percent chance that Theo would still come back, Liam would be here waiting for him, with the door and his arms open.

It was then, though, that the sound of loud voices, screaming, and horse hooves thumping on the ground, interrupted his thoughts.

*****

‘I have to warn Liam,’ Theo said nervously after all the villagers had gone, as Tara reached her skinny arm through the bars of the carriage, and reached the lock.

‘It’s closed,’ she said. ‘But it doesn’t matter, we can just pick the lock.’

Theo’s head snapped up in surprise, his sister never ceased to amaze him, he thought as a soft snort bubbled past his lips. ‘What? How are we gonna do that?’

‘Hmm,’ Tara mumbled as she crawled closer to the door and tried to look through the bars with narrowed eyes, a concentrated frown on her face. ‘I would just need something long, and sharp…’

With her free hand, she fumbled around on her head, through her hair, and she pulled out a long hairclip with a sharp point, and once again, Theo was surprised with what it was that Tara wore in her hair, how her accessories seemed to have multiple uses, and how she seemed to be prepared for everything.

‘There we go,’ she mumbled, sticking her arm through the bars again and fumbling around, her hand by the lock, until Theo heard a soft clicking sound and the lock sprung open.

Theo let out a shaky breath, and Tara pushed the door open immediately, jumping out before Theo. ‘And that’s, how you do it,’ she smirked proudly, grinning at Theo.

‘Seriously,’ he laughed. ‘You’re a genius!’

Tara grinned at that, as if she wanted to say ‘I know’, and a loud yell interrupted them then. ‘Hey! The three of you, you’re supposed to get back in that carriage right now!’

Theo swallowed, the annoyance at the guy coming towards him washing over him, and pulled hard to break free from his grip when the guy grabbed his other arm. ‘Sorry,’ he grinned. ‘I have somewhere to be.’

He made his way straight back to Philippe, the horse still waiting for him standing still next to the carriage.

‘Go,’ Tara told him. ‘We’ll take care of it here,’ and Theo nodded, a grateful smile for her forming on his face. ‘Thanks.’

He walked towards Philippe as Tara kept herself busy with keeping the guard away from him, but he got called back by his mom, her voice sounding behind him. ‘Theo!’

He turned around, a little startled, but couldn’t keep the smile off his face when he saw her coming towards him. ‘Mom.’

‘I’m proud of you,’ she said, pulling him into a hug. ‘I’m so glad you came back.’

Theo wrapped his arms around her tightly, hugging her back, but still the words that needed to be said burnt on his tongue. Slowly, he took a step back, looking at her. ‘Me too. But mom, I…’

‘I know,’ she said. ‘This Liam, you care about him, don’t you?’ And Theo nodded, biting his lip as tears started to form in his eyes again.

‘A lot, yeah,’ he said, and his mom nodded knowingly. ‘Then I won’t hold you up any longer. Go, do what you have to do. Tara and I will take care of it here, and we’ll come after you.’

Theo nodded, a relieved tear rolling down his cheek, and he turned, climbing up on his horse. His mom smiled, handing him the reins and squeezing his hand once more softly. Theo smiled, even though he knew time was running out, and his heart was beating fast with a nervous impatience, knowing that if he was gonna do something, it had to be quick. ‘Mom… I have to go.’

‘I know,’ she said, taking a step back. ‘Be safe.’

‘I will,’ Theo promised, even though he had no idea what the night was gonna bring, and with that he was off, Philippe’s hooves thundering on the ground out of the village even faster than last time.

*****

‘Master… there has been a… Development,’ Cogsworth’s small, nervous voice sounded behind him, and Liam let out a soft sigh.

He knew what it was, that Cogsworth had come to tell him. It was hard not to hear the sound of the group of fifty villagers, slamming at the doors and trying to break them down, trying to get inside and get to him. Liam knew that that what they were here for, they were here for him.

For a moment, he heard his staff hoping that it was Theo, coming back, and for just a second, he had hoped with them. But of course it wasn’t him, the second he realized that Liam had sighed and slumped forward, still a weird bittersweet feeling washing over him mixed with a strange kind of gratitude for his staff, barricading the doors.

He doesn’t feel like doing it himself. Not now.

The loud sounds of a battle coming reached his ears and Liam sighed, looking out from where he was sitting in the tower with a good view over his garden. He could see his double front doors from where he was sitting, the crowd slamming against it with loud screams and pitchforks and trying to break in, until finally, the staff downstairs couldn’t hold them out anymore and the crowd succeeded.

Normally, Liam would’ve been downstairs by now, screaming and clawing at them to get out and leave, but now he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. That was somethings beasts did, and he was not a beast. He so badly wanted to believe that after having acted with Theo like normal people did, and after Theo had looked at him like he was a regular person.

Unsurprisingly, it’s Cogsworth’s voice behind him who interrupted his thoughts again then. ‘I’m sorry to disturb you, master,’ he said, the word leaving a bitter taste on Liam’s tongue. He did not want to be seen that way anymore. ‘But we have to do something… They’re breaking down the doors!’

Liam looked over his shoulder, a pained expression on his face. ‘He’s not coming back.’

Cogsworth let out a sigh, the look on his little face sympathetic and desperate at the same time, before he turned and struggled down the stairs again, to join the other staff members in the defense for the castle. Deep down, Liam felt grateful for them doing that, and he let out a tired sigh when downstairs, the sounds of a battle finally erupted all around, the sound of people storming the castle and each other screaming reaching Liam’s ears, and the staff doing their very best to defend the castle, despite not even being human.

He felt grateful for them, he really did, but he knew that in the end, it wouldn’t change a thing. It would only be a matter of time before someone came up the stairs, up here, and found him in this tower. And when they did, Liam didn’t know what he might do.

*****

Philippe’s hooves had never been this loud, Theo thought, thumping on the forest floor quicker than ever as the sound still rang in his ears, but then, he’d never quite been in such a rush as he was now before.

The thought of Liam getting hurt, the chances of something happening to him, had him swallow and press his heels against Philippe’s waist even more, racing over the path between the trees back to the castle.

He arrived at the sound of a battle, a fight happening right there inside in the hallway of the castle, and some people running back out again already, fleeing before getting hurt. Theo took in a few deep breaths, breathless from the hurried trip, and just put Philippe to a stop before jumping off immediately.

He took the stairs, running up them and making his way to the doors hurriedly, pushing them open and storming inside right into what seemed to be a large battle between the villagers and the castle staff. There were people being attacked by the coat rack, and the living piano that had played for him and Liam dancing just earlier that evening.

Theo let out a deep breath at the sight, looking around with wide eyes before making his way further inside. There was Chip, firing little plates at the villagers surrounding him in rapid speed, and Mrs. Potts hanging from a lamp and spilling hot, boiling tea water all over the people. Theo saw the books at the top of the stairs as they flung themselves at someone, hitting a guy Theo thought was called Alec, before he ran up the stairs with a sword and two other guys, to Cogsworth and the wardrobe that were standing there.

Something that really caught his eye then, was Nolan out of the corner of his eye, who caught a screaming Mrs. Potts as she fell off the lamp, holding out his hands before she could hit the tiles and break, before swinging his fist back and delivering a nice, right punch on the jaw of another villager. Theo’s eyes widened at the sight, taking in a sharp breath as he had not expected that, but as he looked around, a worried feeling crept up on him at the realization that Brett was nowhere to be seen.

‘Theo!’ Nolan screamed then, when he spotted him in the hallway.

Hurriedly, Theo made his way over to him. ‘Where is he!?’ he shouted, Nolan frowning as he realized exactly who Theo was talking about.

‘Theo, Brett went upstairs,’ Nolan swallowed, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. ‘He left me as the fucking coat rack and piano beat me up! I’m sorry for…’

‘Thank you!’ Theo exclaimed, interrupting him and already making his way towards the stairs, knowing exactly where to find Brett and Liam before turning back once more. ‘We’ll talk about this later!’ he shouted, receiving a short quick nod and a tense smile from Nolan, as he understood that time was scarce right now. Theo let out a breath, turning, and running up the stairs right to the highest tower where he knew he’d find Liam. Where he’d found Tara locked away the first time around.

As he did, the atmosphere changed quickly, along with the temperature, and Theo shivered as he raced up the stairs, the sounds of the fight echoing beneath him slowly growing softer as he left the crowd behind. He could still hear the screams of the people fleeing the castle as Lumière chased them out with his candle light, lighting a sort of fireworks that left soft explosions, and him and Cogsworth waving everyone goodbye cockily as they ran and slammed the doors behind them, leaving behind a deafening silence.

Theo didn’t pay attention to him, he focused on reaching the tower, his fear for what he might find there rising with every step. Though it wasn’t what he actually found there.

Vaguely, he could hear Brett’s voice from a few steps away already, talking to Liam in a condescending tone. ‘Do you honestly think he’d want you?’

The question made Theo’s anger flare up in his stomach at the question, his jaw clenched with the anger burning under his skin as he knew that Brett had just addressed Liam’s biggest insecurity, his greatest fear. And the worst thing was, the thing that made Theo sick to his stomach, was that Brett probably knew it too and got a sickening kind of pleasure from it.

A worried feeling washed over Theo, mixed with anger, as he reached the top and didn’t see Liam there, just Brett with a crossbow in his hands and reaching for his arrows. Theo didn’t think twice before pulling them out of his hand, and breaking them in half with a snap so that Brett wouldn’t be able to use them anymore, his eyes burning with anger as Brett turned around at the movement and stared at him startled. As if he hadn’t expected Theo to follow him out here so soon, or at all.

‘Where is he!?’ Theo snarled, his anger rising upon looking into Brett’s eyes.

‘You know I’m sick of these games you play, Theo,’ Brett growled back. ‘When we return to our village, you are mine!’

He emphasized every word angrily and with that, he pulled out a gun he had hidden on his belt, and Theo’s eyes widened in fear. He dove towards it, to take it from him.

‘Never!’ he shouted, the gun dropping from both their hands and flying through the air towards another tower just as Brett took a step backwards, and the stone of the tower cracked beneath his feet. With a scream, he fell down only to land on another small balcony beneath him, and Theo watched as the gun landed on the balcony by the wall of another tower.

He turned and ran, immediately, to get there before Brett did, the fear of losing this race and Brett shooting Liam driving him, making him go faster, as he sprinted down the stairs. He made his way to the smaller tower below him, keeping track of Brett and tracing which way to go to get to the gun, in that way he had an advantage to Brett, he knew it here.

And that’s when he spotted Liam.

He was sitting across the castle, on the balcony of another small tower a few stairs and bridges away from Theo, and trying hard to keep his balance and keep away from Brett.

‘Liam!’ he shouted.

Liam’s head snapped around at the sound, holding onto a stone railing with his claws, and his eyes widened as he saw Theo, standing on top of the tower in his glorious white blouse, black pants and brown leather boots, a terrified look on his face as his eyes sparkled as bright as the stars in the night sky.

_Theo. He came back._

‘Theo!’ he yelled back, his heart already beating faster at seeing Theo standing there, a warm feeling spreading through him and replacing the cold hopelessness he’d had all night. ‘Stay there! I’ll come to you!’

He couldn’t believe that Theo was actually here right now, he thought as he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. Could it be that… _That luck was actually on his side tonight?_ And there was still even some time left.

‘I tried to stop them!’ Theo exclaimed, and Liam nodded shortly, already on his way via the closest stairs to make his way over to him. From the corner of his eye, Theo saw Brett catching up to them, and he turned and ran down the stairs again. If he could just get to that gun before Brett did… Not knowing what he would even do with it because there was no way he was actually going to shoot Brett, but they might still have a chance.

He was stopped in his tracks, though, when he heard a loud, pained growl escaping from Liam’s mouth and he saw Brett running up to him in the middle of the bridge.

Angrily, hurriedly, he broke a piece of cement with a sharp point off the castle, and Theo could do nothing but watch helplessly from where he stood as Brett smacked Liam across the head with it. Liam growled, stumbling backwards, and Theo gasped, looking for ways to get to them and put a stop to this.

‘Brett, stop!’ he screamed, his voice pleading.

He took a few stumbling steps forward, even though it wouldn’t change a thing, but it didn’t take Liam long to get up on his feet again, and when he turned around to Brett he had his jaw clenched, his eyes burning with a fight that Theo hadn’t really seen on him before. He showed his teeth, stepping closer to him, and Theo watched in fear, his eyes wide, as Liam grabbed him by the neck and dragged him over the edge of the tower, the only reason that Brett didn’t fall was because Liam still held onto him tightly. A gasp escaped Theo’s lips.

And the look on Brett’s face could only be described as fear, as complete and utter terror that Liam was going to drop him, as he looked up at him in desperation, begging him not to do it.

‘Don’t let me go,’ he swallowed, his voice breaking as Liam still had his hand wrapped tightly around his neck, making it hard for him to speak. ‘Please, I’ll do anything. Just don’t hurt me, beast.’

Theo bit his lip, watching with wet cheeks as the look on Liam’s face changed then, his clenched jaw relaxing a bit as he brought Brett closer.

‘I am not… A beast,’ he snarled, quietly, though Theo could still hear it clearly from where he was standing, and a relieved breath slipped past his lips upon hearing those words, as Liam finally believed what Theo had been seeing as well. Liam might look like a beast, he thought, but he wasn’t one. Theo had seen that in him already. Sometimes, he guessed, the most different looking people, or less beautiful people according to society’s standards, were the most beautiful inside, and had a secret heart of gold. And sometimes, the most beautiful people on the outside, like Brett with his muscular arms, his golden blonde perfectly styled hair and blindingly white teeth, where the ugliest inside. And sometimes, like now, their personalities became visible in the way that they looked, and Theo was mesmerized by the way Liam’s still human, ocean blue eyes, sparkled under the moonlight.

A smile appeared on Theo’s face, tears still in his eyes, as he saw how Liam growled at Brett and put him back down on the ground, throwing him to the side.

‘Go!’ he screamed after him, as Brett took a run for it. ‘Get out!’ Just like he had done the night he’d found Theo in the west wing. Although Theo wasn’t so sure he would go after him anymore like he’d done with him. Brett fled down the stairs, hurriedly, and a weight dropped off Theo’s shoulders, a relieved feeling coursing through him, as Liam turned towards him and took a step back, as if he was gaining speed for a jump.

‘Don’t!’ Theo yelled at him. ‘It’s too far!’ But Liam’s feet were thumping on the tower, jumping, and when he landed in front of Theo, he could just barely hold onto the railing to climb back up.

Theo sucked in a sharp breath, stepping forward and leaning down to grab hold of Liam’s hands, and pulled hard to get him up as Liam struggled to climb up.

When he stood up, Theo felt a weight lifting off his shoulders, his heart racing at seeing Liam before him, and a soft breath escaped his lips. _Liam was here… And he was alive._ ‘Liam,’ he whispered.

‘Theo…’ Liam responded just as quietly, his face softening, and he opened his mouth to say more. Before he could though, before Theo could find out what he was gonna say, their quiet conversation meant only for them, was interrupted with a loud gunshot echoing through the air, ringing painfully in Theo’s ears as he jumped, and Liam let a loud, pained growl. He stumbled forward, clutching his back with his paw, where Theo saw with his eyes widened in fear, was now a bleeding, gaping wound, the dark red liquid spreading over Liam’s white shirt quickly.

Brett was standing on the bridge, his hair falling wildly into his eyes with a mad look in them that Theo had never seen before, and in his stretched out hand he held the gun, still pointed towards Liam.

‘No!’ Theo pleaded, dropping on his knees beside Liam and placing one hand on his back, trying to get Liam inside and away from Brett’s reach, without worsening the pain that the other was obviously in. Somewhere in the distance, Theo heard the loud, dangerous sound of stone cracking and breaking off, though it barely reached his ears as he was so focused on Liam right then, and getting him to safety. He couldn’t even acknowledge how happy he was to see him yet.

‘Brett, please, stop!’ he screamed, begging the man to do so, as Liam had just crawled to his feet and was leaning heavily on Theo for support.

A second gunshot rang through the air then and Liam stumbled forward, out of Theo’s secure grip, and as Liam let out a tired, pained growl that meant he just wanted this to be over, Theo wished he’d gotten to that damn gun first.

Then none of this would be happening now.

Liam stumbled forward, down the steps of the tower, and Theo sprinted after him down the steps, falling to his knees beside him and put his arm under Liam’s back, lifting him up just a little bit so he could at least be comfortable. He watched as Brett put away the gun, the anger and hate now still clear on his face as his personality was clear to see like Theo’s earlier thought, though the terror formed in his eyes when the large pieces of cement from the bridge broke off and fell down in the dark depths below him, and the bridge finally broke in half under all the weight of what it had endured.

A loud scream coming from Brett’s mouth pierced through the air, deafening in Theo’s ears, and he watched as Brett fell down with the bridge. His scream echoing against the towers surrounding him, lower and lower, until the painful sounding thud of his body hitting the bricks below reached Theo’s ears, and it went painfully silent.

*****

Theo let out a scared gasp, a shaky breath, at what had just happened right in front of his eyes, before he remembered, _Liam,_ and turned to him with wide eyes.

Liam’s chest went up and down softly, as he looked up at him and his eyes found Theo’s. ‘You came back for me…’ he whispered, and Theo couldn’t help but smile down at him.

‘Of course I came back, you idiot!’ he sniffled, his hand finding Liam’s shaky one and placed his on top of it. ‘I had to, didn’t I? What else was I gonna do?’

Liam’s face softened as he looked at him, curling his long fingers around Theo’s and squeezing softly. ‘At least I got to see you, one last time,’ he whispered, and Theo squeezed his hand back, knowing the shot wounds were worse than he wanted to admit.

‘No,’ he sniffled. ‘I’m gonna fix you up, we’re gonna be fine. I’ve done it before,’ he said with a hoarse voice, but there was no response.

Liam went still in his arms, and that’s when the full realization finally crashed around Theo in full force, tears stinging in his eyes and streaming down his cheeks as he leaned forward and buried his face in Liam’s blouse. ‘Liam…’ he hiccupped. ‘Please…’ _Because Liam was gone and Theo couldn’t save him, like what he had actually come here to do, he couldn’t have saved him, and shit, why did it hurt so much?_ Theo hadn’t even told him yet how he had come to think of him these last days, and now he couldn’t, and all he saw was his drawing lying a few feet away from him, a bit crinkled at the edges as if it had been touched a few too many times.

And Theo broke, burying his face his face in Liam’s shirt as he begged him to come back, not knowing how the staff turned stiffer and stiffer, further away from being human downstairs in the snow by the front door, and not seeing how the last petal on the rose came closer and closer to falling off.

‘No, please, come back to me,’ he cried, ‘Please don’t leave me,’ he begged as he held onto Liam’s blouse tightly and pressed a kiss to his forehead, the three little words burning on his tongue, wanting to get out and be set free. ‘I… I love you,’ he whispered, meaning it in a way he’d never said before, just as the last petal fell, and the staff downstairs in the snow blew out their last breaths.

With that, he buried his face in Liam’s shirt again, crying for what he lost, and for how unfair Liam had been treated all his life only to have it end like this, which caused him not to notice the first rays of the golden glow that had started to shine around Liam.

The glass bell jar broke with a soft poof, the black petals of the cursed rose that were lying on the bottom of it turning a glowing red again, as they were all lifted up into the air. Theo’s breath hitched, as Liam’s body was lifted off the ground before him, as if by magic, and quickly he stood up and took a step back, watching the scene unfold before him and taking it in with his mouth wide open, his tears drying on his cheeks.

What was happening? Was this… What he thought it was? But he didn’t understand, how could it be?

Liam was lifted a bit higher then, his head tilted back, and a golden glow danced around him, a sort of dust, with the beautiful red rose petals all dancing around him in the wind that came with it. The rose petals all whirled away with the wind then, in different directions, as they all blew to different corners of the tower to settle there, seemed to plant new roots there for new plants, and new chances to grow. Soft, bright red roses sprung free, growing all the way past the walls, as they held new chances and gave a new meaning for Liam to the place. The place that had once been his prison, had him chained up for years, could now grow into a beautiful indoor garden with new roses that could stand for Liam’s freedom instead, untouched by magic. The place where he had been cursed, and where it was now lifted again, was filled with light and allowed him to make new, clean memories and wipe away the ones that had only been filled with darkness. The roses meant new beginnings for him, and a fresh start.

Theo’s eyes were glued on Liam, his head tilted backwards just slightly and his arms and legs spread out for Theo to see, as the fur on head, his hands and feet disappeared and seemed to transform into a man, a normal, regular, human person like Theo. And God, did he see it.

He watched as the claws on Liam’s hands disappeared, the fur disappeared, and instead transformed back into normal, human hands with normal human nails instead of claws, the man flexing them open and closed a few times as if he wanted to be sure this was real, that this was happening. Theo’s eyes snapped down to his feet then, watching as his feet transformed, the fur on it disappeared, and there too, the claws turned back into normal nails.

Finally, the fur on his head went away then too, leaving behind a normal short, slightly messy dark blonde haircut, and Theo watched with a frown on his face, his mouth open and his arms crossed, as all the fur was gone and a normal person stayed behind, just slightly smaller than Theo and thus forming a huge difference with how he had come to know him at first.

He watched with fearful eyes as the man was spun around in the middle of the golden dust slowly, turned away from Theo and he gasped softly as he thought he knew what was happening, what had to be happening, as a person with a slightly too big white blouse was placed back on the ground in front of him with his back turned towards him, and the golden dust, the glow around him, faded away slowly. But Theo knew it was Liam. It had to be Liam, there was no other choice, he was a hundred percent sure of it, he thought fearfully as he watched the man’s back. He saw with wide eyes how Liam looked up and down himself, brushing over his clothes and staring at his hands, flexing them to make sure he wasn’t dreaming this up.

Carefully, Liam studied his bare arms and legs, his human feet and hands to make sure it was real, that this was real, before he tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. _A man, and not a beast. It had happened, the one thing he never thought would happen, and he couldn’t remember ever being as happy his whole life as he was in this moment. It had finally happened, after all, and it was all thanks to… Theo._

He was still here, he knew, before he turned around to the kind, green-eyed man.

And Theo’s jaw dropped.

He was met with the sight of a man, his own age, so beautiful, with eyes as blue as the ocean or the sky on a sunny day, and dark blonde, messy hair that seemed almost silver among the light of the moon above their heads. A man, and not a beast, and Theo knew it was Liam. It had to be. His breath was taken away at the sight of him.

He frowned, cautiously taking a step closer to him and taking in the sight of him, the magical sight, as Liam’s face was all screwed up, tears glistening in his eyes. Theo swallowed, taking in those eyes as he got closer and reached his hands up to press them against Liam’s cheeks softly, skin against skin, and cupped his face as he looked into Liam’s eyes and searched for that same familiar look in them that only he had, until he’d found it. They were the same, he saw without hesitation. The same eyes that he had gotten so used to, after looking into them for days.

 _Man,_ he thought, letting out a soft grin. _His eyes really did stay human through all of this then, huh?_

‘Theo?’ Liam asked in a hoarse voice, drawing Theo’s attention back to him. ‘Theo, it’s me, Liam.’

And Theo nodded shortly, unable to keep a relieved laugh from spilling past his lips and a grin forming on his face, as he took in how beautiful Liam was and how this had all happened over the course of one night, how it had really happened. ‘I know,’ he whispered, before taking in a shaky breath and his heart skipped a beat as a wide, blinding relieved grin spread out on Liam’s face, making him all the more beautiful. ‘So…’ he said then, with a slight sniffle. ‘This is how you break the curse, huh?’ he said with a small smirk, as he suddenly understood.

Liam let out a soft sound that seemed a laugh and sob at the same time, before a more serious expression took over his face though his eyes were still as soft as ever. ‘You saved my life,’ he said. ‘In more ways than one.’

Theo’s heart sped up at that, racing as the words already rang in his ears. He was sure he would never forget them, the way Liam had said them, and how they were already so special to him.

‘I thought I’d lost you. I love you, Liam,’ he said softly, quietly, and leaned forward, pressing his lips against Liam’s, and finally doing what he wanted to do.

The words made Liam’s heart jump with joy a little, butterflies racing through his stomach upon hearing them, as he had never had something like this with anyone in his life. ‘I’m here. I love you too,’ he said, right before Theo’s lips touched his and he pulled him closer nervously, desperate to let all the love and the thankfulness he felt, all the apologies in the world for him and his sister, bleed over in the kiss so that Theo would know. Would know how he felt, and how true it was for him. That after years of haunting loneliness, years of telling himself that he could never have this, that no one could ever want him or love him and he didn’t deserve this, someone did. And he was so thankful.

And as they did, standing there together on the tower in the midst of all the newly bloomed roses with their lips still pressed together, they were vaguely aware of how the darkness over the castle faded away and made way for the light, the dark turning into day as if it had never been there, winter turning into summer, and the sunlight spread widely over the castle as the last of the curse fell away.

And vaguely, in the back of their minds, they knew that downstairs, the human staff were loudly celebrating the broken curse in their own way as well.

*****

Soft piano music played in the ballroom where Theo and Liam were standing across from each other, surrounded by all their friends and family who were there for the dance too.

Liam smiled, holding out his hand and his heart warming in his chest as Theo took it, as he was still a bit nervous about them together. It was all still so new to him. But Theo reassured him, let him know that he was doing just fine.

After the curse was broken, Theo had met the rest of the staff, officially, as Liam had taken him down the stairs hurriedly and happily to do so. As it turned out, Lumière was a tall man with a moustache, who told hilarious jokes in Theo’s eyes and was still the hopeless romantic. Cogsworth was an older man with an impressive moustache, always doing things strictly according to the rules, but with an incredible sense of justice nevertheless. Mrs. Potts was a real family woman, always doting on her ten year old son Chip and spoiling him, being strict for him at the same time, and raising a boy that was kind, helpful and stood up for his beliefs just like her in that way. Theo was all glad to meet them like that, the way they really were, and find they were still so kind, and see how grateful they were for what he’d done and broke their curse.

He had watched as Liam had greeted them as old friends, reuniting after years trapped together, and it warmed his heart to see them acting so comfortable with each other, all of them happy to see Liam back to how they knew him, happy to have him back, and Lumière hugging him.

It didn’t take long for Tara and Theo’s mom to come to the castle then too, and where Theo’s mom was surprisingly happy to meet Liam, Tara was a little more reluctant. She had hesitantly shaken his head, clearly still confused and a bit unsure about how the situation had turned out, but after Theo talked to her and told her what Liam was like, and seeing her brother together with him, she understood. Liam had apologized to her profusely, and she’d accepted. And slowly, they were becoming better friends than the tense, awkward tolerance they had now.

After the curse, Theo had moved away from the village, to the castle with his family, and helped Liam to clean up the west wing, to get rid of all the stuff there that reminded him of the curse and make way for the roses that grew there now, which were very much not cursed. The drawing of the art studio and Liam that Theo had made, they hung up in a frame above Liam’s bed, despite the fact that Liam still looked like a beast. It was the only thing with which he didn’t mind so much, simply because it just meant too much to him.

Theo smiled softly as he looked at Liam before him, dressed in the same kind of soft blue with silver suit he’d had on when they first danced together, the night the curse broke, and he could feel his breath taken away from him, his heart warming in his chest. Wow.

Across the room he saw Tara dancing with her own guy, that she had met right here in the castle, Lumière and his girlfriend only a few feet away from them.

And from the corner of his eye, he caught Nolan and Alec, one of the villagers, stepping away from the girls they were dancing with then to instead end up in each other’s arms instead, and Theo smiled. Alec was certainly a better choice for Nolan than Brett, after his relentless crushing on and pointless pursuing the guy, which wouldn’t have lead anywhere anyway. He was happy for him.

‘Hey,’ he asked softly then, as he noticed Liam’s gaze lingering on him and the happy tears that shined in his eyes. ‘What are you thinking about?'

Liam smiled, one corner of his mouth turned up slightly as if he had a secret. It only made Theo more curious.

‘You know how you said you’d love to visit Paris someday?’ he asked, and Theo’s eyes widened.

‘Yeah,’ he said, and Liam let out a soft chuckle. ‘Well, I was thinking: let’s go there sometime.’

He could now, looking like this, and there was no denying that he wanted to. God, he wanted to. Going there, with Theo, sounded a bit like the stuff dreams were made of.

Theo’s eyes were wide, surprised with the idea, but his answer was simple. ‘Okay.’

‘Okay?’ Liam repeated, his heart beating fast anxiously, just to be sure that Theo wanted this. He nodded. ‘Yeah, sure. I love you, Liam, and I would love to do that.’

Liam bit his lip, nodding as there were actually happy tears in his eyes right now at the words, and there was no denying how happy hearing Theo say those words made him. He pressed him closer, until he could almost feel Theo’s heartbeat in his chest, and their fingers linked together as they danced slowly on the dancefloor a little.

‘Okay,’ he whispered, resting his head against Theo’s shoulder, before, ‘I love you too.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was it! It's over!  
> I hope you enjoyed it! :)


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